Is it not in Your going with us,

    so that we are distinct,

I and Your people,

from every other people

  on the face of the earth?

               Exodus 33. 16

(Does anyone see

anything different in us?

Do we see anything different

                 in us?

Is God's Presence with us

     evident to others?

How can we approach

     what is before us,

this difficult situation,

these impossible circumstances,

even this ordinary day,

                  distinctively,

because we are believers?

God with us

       changes everything.)

O LORD,

You have brought us

    into this unexpected situation,

into this unlikely place,

right before this Red Sea,

or miles and miles of desert,

not just to show us a way

     but to reveal Your power in it.

Help us to bring You glory

   by honoring Your name,

and living not as if You are with us,

       but because You are.

We are Your anointed people.

Help us to live that way.

Others are continually watching us,

not to see if we are perfect,

but to see if You are real.