In Jesus Christ, we have the certain hope that the God who goes before us is the One who goes behind us. He Who guides us by his word and Spirit is He who guards us by his mighty hand. The Shepherd who leads us in paths of righteousness and is with us in the valley is the same Shepherd who pursues us in goodness and mercy.

“Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.” -Exodus 14:19-20

On November 18th, 1985 the Washington Redskins squared off against the New York Giants. The score was tied at 7 in the second quarter and legendary Redskins quarterback, Joe Theismann, took the snap. It was a trick play, a flea flicker. But that didn’t stop lumbering Lawrence Taylor’s blitz. Taylor managed to slide into Theismann’s blind spot and crush him with freight train force. Tragically, Theismann’s leg snapped like a dry twig and he never played another down of professional football… all because his rear guard failed. 

In life as in football, it’s good to know that someone has your back. It is an aspect of God’s love for His people that is subtly but surely seen in the moments leading up to the Red Sea rescue, the most celebrated act of divine deliverance in the Old Testament. Picture the scene…

The freshly liberated Hebrews have come to a dead end. Before them rolls the mighty Red Sea, with mountains hemming them in on either side. They’re trapped! But then, maybe they heard it first, like the low rumble of distant thunder. Perhaps they felt the earth trembling beneath their feet. Or they might have looked and the great cloud of dust or the gleaming armor of Pharaoh’s army in the Egyptian sun, cresting the horizon and closing in. The Israelites were staring down the double barrels of certain doom!

Read More