Ah, it’s my favorite Shabbat–the Shabbat when Jews all over the world read the portion in the Old Testament, or Torah, called Beshalach. In this section of Exodus (13:17-17:16) the Israelites are pursued by the Egyptians and trapped at the Red Sea, until the sea parts and they travel to safety on the other side. (I’ve written about this before. See this post...)
This portion always reminds me that we must have courage and faith when faced with difficulties of any sort. When we think no solution exists, when we feel we are up against the wall (of water), we must simply move forward anyway. We must have the courage and the faith to take a step. And we must listen for God’s voice telling us what to do. Then we must act upon what we hear.
This year, I’m more aware of this lesson than ever before. I realize that I am always surrounded by guidance and tapped into my Source, I just need to allow myself to “hear” what God has to say. I must always have my eyes open to see the signs. Like Moses, I can hear God’s voice speaking to me if I choose to listen. Like the prophets, I can receive messages if I choose to listen. I don’t have to “go it alone.”
This Shabbat this year, however, I’m thinking of a time prior to the Red Sea incident as well. I’m thinking about Moses at the burning bush.
Most of us believe we can’t hear God’s voice, we don’t have guidance or guides and we aren’t “special enough” to receive messages from Source. We don’t have faith. And, therefore, we don’t have courage. Moses, however, had faith in God…and courage enough to walk up the burning bush. This placed him on holy ground.There, he heard God’s voice for the first time. He experienced God. And he trusted and had faith and followed the command of that voice.
In fact, just like Moses, we stand on holy ground much of the time. Like Jacob, who dreamt of the angels going up and down the ladder to heaven in Genesis (28:11–19) and then awoke to say, “God was in this place, and I, I did not know,” we could say those same words on any given day or at any given time. We must awaken to the fact that we are always on holy ground (or could be)–we just must have the courage to open our eyes to see God and open our ears to hear the messages that come from Source and from the angels and guides around us.
Do you want to hear God’s voice? Do you want to hear the Still Small Voice–call it intuition, Source, God, guides…whatever you like (it could be all of these or any of these). Are you courageous enough to listen? Are you courageous enough to act upon what you hear? Do you have faith to believe that what your hear (or see) is something other than you?
Why not ask God to speak to you? Why not go looking for signs of God in your life? Why not sit quietly and ask for a message from Source or from your guides. And then, have the courage and the faith to move forward, to walk into the water if need be.
