God Makes a Path for Us
Yael Eckstein | September 5, 2023
Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen. — Psalm 77:19
Miracles are central to both the Jewish and Christian faiths, and both biblical narratives are replete with miracles. Enjoy this collection of devotional teachings on the nature of God’s awe-inspiring signs and wonders.
The splitting of the Red Sea is perhaps the prime example of a miracle in Jewish tradition. What is more miraculous than God overturning the laws of nature to rescue the children of Israel, a ragged bunch of slaves, from Egypt, one of the greatest empires that ever ruled?
But God didn’t just part the sea once; Psalm 77 describes this miracle with three phrases, each one telling us how God is still splitting the sea for us in different ways every day.
The verse begins: “Your path led through the sea…” Our lives sometimes feel like we’re immersed in a raging sea. We are tossed around, with no idea how we’ll return to solid ground. But then God reveals a path—a way to survive our hardest times and reach shores we never dreamed of. Just as He made a path for the Israelites, God makes a path for us through the most turbulent moments of our lives.
God Makes a Path for Us
The verse continues: “your way through the mighty waters…” In the original Hebrew, the word “way” is written in plural. According to Jewish tradition, when God parted the sea, He created twelve different paths—one for each of the tribes.
Through this, the Sages explain that there are many routes one can take on a spiritual journey to God, based on our unique strengths and challenges. The path that God has given us is ours for a reason.
Finally, we read “though your footprints were not seen.” In a famous poem by Mary Stevenson, the poet describes a dream where she was walking along the beach with the Lord. As scenes from her life flashed before her, she noticed that there were sometimes two sets of footprints, but at the hardest points in her life, there was only one. She asks God why He abandoned her when she needed Him most. God responded that when she only saw one set of footprints, it was because He was carrying her.
Just as God “carried” the children of Israel from bondage to freedom, just as He “carried” Mary Stevenson, God carries us through the most challenging times in our own lives, as well. Rest assured that God is still splitting the sea for us today, just as He did thousands of years ago.
Your Turn:
Next time the seas of life are rough, have faith that God is working behind the scenes to create a miraculous path to safety—specifically for you.