“Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters . . .” (Isaiah 43:16)

I like the song “God will make a way where there is no way.” It was five years ago when we as a family did not know the way. We were stuck with a house for which we could no longer payments. Time was running out.

It was in July of that year that the Lord led us to a townhouse on July Way in Redding to rent. Our house sold for $40,000 over the asking price the first day it was on the market. Everything fell into place.

The Israelites must have felt that way when Moses led them out of Egypt. Stuck between the Egyptians on the backside and the Red Sea on the front side, they seemed like they were trapped. Then God opened up a dry way for them through the Red Sea that closed in on the Egyptians when they tried to take the same way. The Lord makes a way where there is no way.

Moses was told, “Tell the people to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.” (Exodus 14:15-16) Was his lifting up of his staff and the stretching out of his hand over the sea a mere prophetic act, or was it simply a supreme act of obedience? Does it matter?

When there appears to be no way out, God has a way of making a way. I look over the overgrown blackberry bushes on our 1-acre property. We have had various prophetic words about a garden. We would like there to be a garden to grow our own produce. There is a well on our property. It is hand dug and doesn’t have a drop of water in it unless it rains. Neighbors tell us the water table is 20 feet down. The blackberry bushes thrive despite a lack of water. I have a machete to start chopping down the blackberry bushes. I have a shovel to dig the well. The garden is a far way off from the prophetic words.

Our prophetic words seem like someone is promising us a rose garden. However, God is able to make a way where there is no way. We do our part, and God does His part. Usually, we end up doing about 1 percent and God graciously does the other 99 percent. Sometimes it is as simple as lifting up our staff, stretching out our hand over the sea and telling the people to move forward. Sometimes it is a matter of praying for fire to fall on a water-drenched bonfire while the whole world is watching. Sometimes we take our machete to the bushes. Maybe the garden will drop down from heaven. Maybe it will take a lot of sweat and tears.

By Ralph Veenstra