Red Sea Rising

While we were still in Marseille, KO and I discussed whether we would go to Mount Sinai during our time in Egypt. She's hiked it before, as have many of my friends have, and said she would be willing to do it again if I really wanted to go. The problem was...this vacation was meant to be a time of rest, and Mount Sinai would not be restful but just the opposite. An eight hour drive through the desert (and we'd have to hire a driver to make that trek for us), then hiking up a mountain in the middle of the night so that we could watch the sunrise from the summit, and then another eight hour drive back to Cairo. Add to that the fact that I only brought flip flops with me to Egypt and I was still sporting the broken toe...we decided that maybe Mount Sinai would have to wait until the next time I go to Egypt.

So when her friends told us that they were going to a resort at the Red Sea for a few days, and would we like to join in, we jumped on that invitation. Let me tell you--two days at a resort on the Red Sea is THE way to do vacation!

It was only a two hour drive from Cairo through the desert out to the resort. The desert looks much different than the rust-colored sand dunes of the UAE desert. It's much more rocky and just, well...sand colored. As we made the drive, my mind turned back to Exodus. I tried to imagine what it would look like to see a million Hebrews trekking through that rocky sand. Over those mountains. I began to wonder how in the world they knew which direction to go, and then I remembered the pillar of cloud and fire leading them. I wondered how long it took. What was going through their minds at that point. Did they know they were headed for the Red Sea? Did they know they were going to have to cross it miraclously?

My thoughts were interrupted as we arrived at the resort. Oh my goodness. Oh.my.goodness!!! It was so wonderful. The biggest most comfortable beds ever! All sorts of things to do just within the resort without even going outside to the pool or to the beach. Huge buffets of all kind of foods. A cafe where you could order whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. And then the pool. Oh the pool. Let me just show you a picture.

We spent most of the afternoon by the poolside. (KO has a funny little fear of natural bodies of water, so she preferred the pool to the Sea. Don't worry, we spent plenty of time by the Sea later.) We swam. We napped under the umbrellas. We played spades. We read. We ordered cheeseburgers, fries and cokes from the poolboys. I don't know when I've ever been so lost in relaxation as I was by that poolside.

That night, we went out to the beach and watched the moon rise over the Red Sea. KO and I had some good discussions that evening. As we stared out at those waters, imagining what it would look like for God to part them and for the Hebrews to cross over on dry ground...we also pondered our own steps of faith that were soon approaching us. She was making her own exodus from Egypt and returning to the US after having been gone two years. I had just left Marseille, and was returning to Paris, with decisions and possible changes ahead. Could I put my faith in the guy in charge who is making decisions for my future steps the same way the Hebrews had to trust Moses' guidance? What's on the other side? Will the trouble that's been chasing me continue chasing me still? How long did it take them to cross to the other side? What in the world did they think and feel as they crossed through, seeing the water bunched up just beside them? And when they saw the water crash down on the Egyptians...what did they think about the fact that God was fighting FOR them?

It was one of the lessons I'd learned this summer: God is FOR me, not against me.

I rose early the next morning to watch the sun rise up over the Red Sea. I sat on those shores and pondered that the same God who fought for His children there thousands of years ago still fights for even one child today. He fights for me. He works miracles in my own life. He who causes the sun and the moon to rise every single day is just as faithful in my daily comings and goings. He is constant and He is good.

KO bottled up some of the sand and water from the beach because she said that two of the best times she's ever had with the Lord were at the Red Sea. For me, it's taken the three weeks since then for me to finish praying through the thoughts the Lord began in my head that morning there. I didn't get to bottle up any physical memory to take home with me. Instead, He has risen up from my time at the Red Sea a peace and contentment that He is still as faithful now as He was all those years ago to march me to safety in His promised plan for my life.

And so I left Egypt...ready to conquer whatever God has next for me back in France.

Click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE for Red Sea photos.