The Red Sea Rules

Two good friends of mine gave me the book The Red Sea Rules by Robert Morgan in September 2004.  I had just suffered a miscarriage, which at the time seemed like the worst thing that could ever happened to me.  The book is subtitled 10 God-given Strategies for Difficult Times.  Neither my friends nor I had any idea just how appropriate this book would become.  Just a few months later I would become pregnant with Catherine and start a much more difficult journey than a miscarriage.

 

Here’s some advice I like from this book:

-          Morgan quotes Bishop Fulton Sheen, who says that worry is “a form of atheism, for it betrays a lack of faith and trust in God.”

-          A deep secret of the Christian life is that when you are in a difficult place, realize that God either placed you there or allowed you to be there, for reasons perhaps known only to Himself.

-          When you are in a bad situation, do not ask “How can I get out of this mess?”  Instead, ask “How can God be glorified in this mess?”

-          Don’t acknowledge God and keep an eye on Satan.  Instead, acknowledge Satan but keep your eye, your focus, on God.  In Paul’s letters, he uses the word Jesus 219 times, the word Lord 272 times, and the word Christ 389 times.  But, he uses the word Satan only 10 times and the word devil 6 times.  Paul’s focus is on God, not on the devil.

-     Morgan quotes Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones with a high calling: "I do not care what the circumstances may be, the Christian should never be agitated, the Christian should never be beside himself, the Christian should never be at his wit's end, should never be in a condition in which he is lost ... it implies a lac of trust and confidence in Him."

-     Morgan quotes C. H. Mackintosh: "God never gives guidance for two steps at a time.  I must take one step, and then I get light for the next.  This keeps the heart in abiding dependence on God."

-     Morgan quotes Sir William Osler about living in the present: "Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand."