A Place at the Table - 14 - Trapped
A Place at the Table - 14 - Trapped
God, we thank You that You know right where we are. We thank You that no matter what we have done to distract ourselves from You, You continue to carve out a path should we choose to notice it. In our situations of waiting, may we be aware of Your movements and promptings. Help us continue to step toward freedom. Reassure us as we look death in the eye, that soon— very soon— Your hands will open up life in new and unexpected ways. Amen.
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Feeling trapped is an awful feeling. The animal instinct response to being trapped is the fight or flight response - either you fight to defend or you take flight to try to escape. There are many times in life that I have felt trapped - some by choices that I have made, some times by events that were external to me and I didn’t have much choice in the matter. Either way feels like a place of being trapped. Continuing the story of the Exodus, Seay gets to the shore of the Red Sea in Exodus 14 where the Hebrews feel that they are trapped between the waters of the sea and the approaching armies of Pharaoh. Their response is to complain to Moses - why did you bring us out here to die? Yet, God provides the way. A way through a miracle - the parting of the seas.
While I read that story and have experienced times where God has done just that, I write and pray this morning for those who have not experienced that release and that freedom. I pray for spouses who are trapped in abusive and destructive relationships, for children who are in families that do not provide a hope for the future, for people who face circumstances far beyond their control that trap them, for people in poverty who feel no way out, for refugees stranded day after day in horrible conditions in refugee camps, for the poor, the hungry, the voiceless, the powerless, the ones who Jesus sought to restore and touch.
My picture today came to me immediately as I read this devotion today - I took it on a hike last year and was struck by the beauty that was beyond the bars - the beauty that isn’t totally clear and seems unreachable. There are people who feel exactly that way in our world today - that there is relief, restoration, hope - just out of reach. How can we help bring them or bring hope to get beyond being trapped?
As I wrote this, the words of a song were going through my head - God Will Make a Way by Don Moen
God will make a way Where there seems to be no way He works in ways we cannot see He will make a way for me
He will be my guide Hold me closely to His side With love and strength for each new day He will make a way, He will make a way
Oh, God will make a way Where there seems to be no way He works in ways we cannot see He will make a way for me
He will be my guide Hold me closely to His side With love and strength for each new day He will make a way, He will make a way
By a roadway in the wilderness, He'll lead me And rivers in the desert will I see Heaven and Earth will fade but His Word will still remain And He will do something new today
Oh, God will make a way Where there seems to be no way He works in ways we cannot see He will make a way for me
He will be my guide Hold me closely to His side With love and strength for each new day He will make a way, He will make a way
By a roadway in the wilderness, He'll lead me And rivers in the desert will I see Heaven and Earth will fade but His Word will still remain And He will do something new today
Oh, God will make a way Where there seems to be no way He works in ways we cannot see He will make a way for me
He will be my guide Hold me closely to His side With love and strength for each new day He will make a way, He will make a way
With love and strength for each new day He will make a way, He will make a way
My prayer is that is a reality for all not just for some.