Red Sea Sickness

After an hour of circling above the airport in St. Louis, Missouri, the pilot announced that a severe thunderstorm was parked directly over the airport, so landing would be delayed until the storm dissipated or moved. It was an especially good choice on his part, since a commercial plane of similar size had crashed in a thunderstorm a week earlier in Arkansas. About 20 minutes after the first announcement, the pilot informed us that the storm was stalled; and based on his fuel gauge, landing was now the best option. My vote would have been to go back to Chicago, but the pilot didn’t take a vote. I wasn’t too happy with him at that moment. We were then instructed to fasten our seat belts and brace for a rough landing. The flight attendants walked through the cabin fastening overhead compartment doors while simultaneously putting on backpacks that looked suspiciously like parachutes, the whole time calmly telling all of the passengers, in beauty pageant-like voices, that we would all be on the ground soon. “Sure,” I thought, “but in how many pieces?”

I prayed for God to part the storm and bless us with a picture-perfect landing. The clouds did not part. It was a very rough and choppy descent. Even though I was about 10,000 feet in the air, I began to feel seasick. My ears were popping. The plane was tossed about as if it were the S.S. Minnow. My eyes scanned the cabin and noticed others looking like I felt. There were, however, a few passengers who weren’t fazed one bit by our predicament. In fact, the looks on their faces made it seem that there was no predicament at all, almost as if there was nothing to fear. They were right! Just moments later, the plane landed and came to a gentle stop – in one piece. Thank you, God! Fifteen minutes after I de-planed, my stomach landed, leaving the two of us with only five minutes to get across the airport to make the connecting flight to our final destination. My stomach and I would be doing this all over again! Yikes!

In some ways, my reactions and attitudes on the flight to St. Louis were no different than that of many of the Israelites when they were trapped between the Red Sea and the rapidly approaching Egyptian army (Exodus 13:17 - 14:31). They panicked and cried out to the Lord for help. Then they turned on Moses, griping that slavery in Egypt had been better than dying in the wilderness. They complained and questioned Moses about his sense of direction and leadership. They wondered how he could have led them into such a predicament. In the midst of a vast crowd of unhappy campers, Moses was unfazed. Why? Because, Moses didn’t lead them to that dead end, God did!

But it wasn’t really a dead end. God miraculously parted the Red Sea that day, and the Israelites walked on dry ground to the opposite shore. The pursuing Egyptian army drowned. After that day, the children of Israel were free, and Egypt was never again a world power. God led His chosen people, whom He had just removed from Egypt, to that very spot so He could demonstrate their true deliverance from Egyptian slavery. They would NEVER need to look over their shoulders again wondering if the Pharaoh was still following. They would never need to wonder if their exodus was too good to be true or too good too last. They had been suffering from a spiritual malady that I refer to as “Red Sea Sickness,” an affliction where God’s truth resides and grows in a person’s head instead of in their heart. Being backed up against the Red Sea did not cause their sickness; it exposed it. God led his children to that seeming dead end, not to punish, but to heal. It was the beginning of more and better life for them.

I have learned that the Israelites were not the only ones afflicted with “Red Sea Sickness;” it has been a problem for me as well. God has taken me to the figurative dead end at the shore to expose the “Red Sea Sickness” in my life. He still takes me there on occasion, because my infection runs deeper than I thought or cared to admit. But I have also learned that God is bigger than this problem, and He is determined to make me well. When God leads me to the dead end by the shore, He is gracious enough to bless me with people who are unfazed by my circumstances. They often speak the same words as Moses, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the Lord rescue you. The Egyptians (Sin and Troubles - paraphrase mine) you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. You won’t have to lift a finger in your defense!” They’re right!

Presently, I am going through another treatment for “Red Sea Sickness,” and in the process, I am reminded that God is unrelenting in His desire that His truth should live and grow in my heart, not my head. I’m getting a completely different picture of God’s love and freedom for me. I hope you are too.

Grace to you.

Dave Paukner