Corners

I’ve been thinking about a passage we talked about in Leading Witness:

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.’” (Exodus 14:2)

There are two things worth noting here: first, after all that trouble of escaping from slavery in Egypt, they’re turning around; and, second, that God is backing them into a corner here, so that they’re vulnerable to attack.

I came across this passage in Luke the other day, and it’s kind of similar:

“One day Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let's go over to the other side of the lake.’ So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.” (Luke 8:22)

Backed into a corner again: the disciples in a boat, in a storm, in the middle of the lake.

Corners keep coming up in our lives, don’t they? About a month ago, a girl from my high school was hit by a car. Her head suffered nearly all of the impact. Ambulances rushed to the scene—she was alive, but only barely. Another corner.

But this is where the story gets good, because God uses those corners to reveal His glory. The Israelites are backed against the Red Sea—so what does God do? He has Moses separate the waters so they can escape. A great storm is flooding the boat, making the disciples fear for their lives? Not a problem. Jesus tells off the wind and rain, and the storm ceases.

And a car hits a girl and causes brain swelling? She came home yesterday and continues recover remarkably well. There’s God’s glory! He is faithful.

Of course, we know very well that the story doesn’t always end quite like that. Usually, people in such serious accidents die. The cornerest corner of all.

But we’ve seen that corner before too, haven’t we? A man hanging on the cross, a gash in his side, breathing his final breath in anguish.

There could have been no Resurrection if Jesus hadn’t died first. God’s greatest glory comes out of corners.