Wisdom 11:2-5: Special Providence in Exodus
First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2022
The Book of Wisdom prepares us for Advent, our time of Exodus from darkness into the light of truth, hope and love. God is always with us, guiding and protecting; yet in a special way God accompanies us closely when we move out of a place of comfort where our unhealthy behaviors are enabled into a place of health, where we work on our rough edges. When we make this kind of transition from being prisoners of a habit to being free to hear the surprising new behavior God has in mind for us, we place ourselves at risk. We take a leap of faith, believing that as we shed our old safety net, God will place an even better one beneath us. When we journey from a state of slavery to a state of freedom, we are accompanied by the pillar of smoke by day, the column of fire by night. God provides for his faithful in a very special way as they make themselves vulnerable for his sake.
And so we pray . . .
They journeyed through the uninhabited desert, and in solitude they pitched their tents . . .
When we feel most alone we are most attended. When we suffer we walk in the company of God’s angels . . . for we are especially loved and kept by God.
They withstood enemies and took vengeance on their foes . . .
The faithful do not need to fight; rather we need only witness to the story of God’s coming among us. The rest we leave in the hands of God who turns all harm to good.
When they thirsted, they called upon you . . .
When we are in misery, anxiety, fear of any kind there is only one place to turn. To God.
And water was given them from sheer rock . . .
Then we are to expect the unexpected, the inverse, the surprising, the paradox.
Assuagement for their thirst from the hard stone . . .
We are precious in God’s eyes, made in God’s image. We are stones of a living temple to be rejected by those who build upon the sand, but placed upon a strong foundation by the one who endures.
For by the things through which their foes were punished they in their need were benefited.
We will know how to interact with our foes when we look to their suffering rather than our own. We can expect God’s guidance and protection as we work to become God’s disciples. And so we pray.
Good and watchful God,
We enter into our exodus journey to you. We know that you will not allow a foot to be dashed upon a stone. We believe that you will not desert us. We trust that you sustain us from your goodness. We believe that you teach us through our many trials. We ask your continued patience with us when we doubt, your continued love for us when we err, your continued hope for us when we falter. We who are made in your image strike out from a foreign land of enslavement to move homeward in freedom. Call us constantly back to you when we stray. Keep us close by you. Always. Amen.
Images from: https://www.perfectbrilliantstillness.org/what-is-page-3/hand-holding-planet-earth-crop-and-darken/ and https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/exodus-understanding-one-of-the-bibles-major-themes
A favorite from December 2, 2008.
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