In these verses we see how in ancient times, when the Lord fought for Israel against the cruel Pharaoh, it was stormy winds that won their deliverance. And again later, in the greatest display of His power, God struck the final blow to the proud defiance of Egypt with stormy winds. Yet at first it seemed that a strange and almost cruel thing was happening to Israel. They were hemmed in by a multitude of dangers: in front, a raging sea defied them; on either side, mountains cut off any hope of escape; and above them, a hurricane seemed to blow. It was as if the first deliverance had come only to hand them over to a more certain death. “The Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD” (Exodus 14:10).

Only when it seemed they were trapped for the enemy did the glorious triumph come. The stormy wind blew forward, beating back the waves. The vast multitude of Israelites marched ahead along the path of the deep sea floor—a path covered with God’s protecting love. On either side were crystal walls of water, glowing in the light of the glory of the Lord, and high above them roared the thunder of the storm. And so it continued on through the night, until at dawn the next day, as the last of the Israelites set foot on shore, the work of the stormy wind was done.

Then Israel sang a song to the Lord of how the stormy wind fulfilled His word: “The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils. . . .’ But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters” (Exodus 15:9–10).

Someday, through His great mercy, we too will stand on “a sea of glass,” holding “harps given [to us] by God.” Then we will sing “the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: ‘Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations’” (Revelation 15:2–3). Then we will know how the stormy winds have won our deliverance.

Today only questions surround your great sorrow, but then you will see how the threatening enemy was actually swept away during your stormy night of fear and grief.

Today you see only your loss, but then you will see how God used it to break the evil chains that had begun to restrain you.

Today you cower at the howling wind and the roaring thunder, but then you will see how they beat back the waves of destruction and opened your way to the peaceful Land of Promise. MARK GUY PEARSE

Though winds are wild, And the gale unleashed, My trusting heart still sings: I know that they mean No harm to me, He rides upon their wings.