Words of Worship: Red Sea Road

Here’s a question for you, friends: on a road trip, do you use a GPS, paper map, both, or neither? I’m a GPS lover tried and true, and not just on road trips. I’ve lived in my current city for a little over a year and I still use my GPS to find the quickest way to church or back home (or when it’s 7:37pm and Hobby Lobby closes at 8:00…).

My family never really roadtripped anywhere, we always flew, so when I journeyed around the country with a few friends this summer I learned just how dependent I was on that handy little app on my phone to tell me where I was, where we were going, how long it would take to get there, and to remind me SEVERAL times when my exit was coming up.

More often than not, I catch myself wishing I had a GPS for life’s journey, too. Wouldn’t it be nice to see clearly all the different options, where they would lead, and how long it would take you to get from where you are to where you want to be? Then along the way a confident, comforting voice would tell you when you were getting closer, when there was traffic, and when to veer left or right, right?

While there’s no app on my phone that reads “God’s Plans” to be just a click or tap away, there is plenty of scripture to dig into that can remind us of His way of making a way where there is no way. In Exodus we read about the Israelites fleeing from Pharaoh and slavery in Egypt, and God literally parts the waters of the Red Sea, making a way for them to pass. They could have seen the waters and given up, turning left or right for a longer road. They could have (and many wanted to!) turn around and go back to what was familiar instead of trusting an unseen God with the unknown future.

But they didn’t. They waited, Moses responded faithfully, and God made a way.

Ellie Holcomb’s song “Red Sea Road” sings of this moment beautifully, and encourages us to hold onto our hope, trusting God to provide our own way through the darkness.

We buried dreams
Laid them deep into the earth behind us
Said our goodbyes
At the grave but everything reminds us
God knows, we ache
When He asks us to go on
How do we go on?

We will sing to our souls
We won’t bury our hope
Where He leads us to go
There’s a red sea road
When we can’t see the way
He will part the waves
And we’ll never walk alone
Down a red sea road

What a beautiful promise! What a beautiful song! No matter where He leads, we need only sing truth over our hearts and stay planted in hope, and He will provide the Red Sea Road.