Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Judges, Chapters 8-9 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
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Highlight Reference Passage : Judges 8: 28-35 … 28 Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon’s lifetime, the land had peace forty years. ,,, 29 Jerub-Baal [i.e., Gideon] son of Joash went back home to live. 30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelek. 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. … 33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god 34 and did not remember the LORD their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. 35 They also failed to show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) in spite of all the good things he had done for them.
My Journal for Today: Reading through the closing chapters on Gideon as a Judge for the Israelites (see linked chapters for your reading), we see that Gideon, once he surrendered to God’s leadership, under the guidance and authority of Yahweh and the Old Covenant, he was successful; and for many years he did well in leading Gods’ people, following His Lord; but as we read in the highlighted passages above, Gideon did not finish well.
We read in Judges 8: 28-35 that his later life was tinged by a lack of moral/sexual purity. He had many wives and likely many concubines (having 70 sons – and who knows how many daughters). And like we’ll later see in the life of Solomon, this lack of sexual vigilance produced one son, Abmelek, who later became a rotten apple, trying to become king and leading the people back into Baal worship (see Chapter 9 from the link above).
What this says to me – and probably should say to all Christians – has to do with steadfastness of faith. Our Christian lives are much better compared with a marathon than a sprint. Once our lives are converted and our eternal heavenly future is sealed by God’s grace because we have come into the family of God in faith, we begin the process of letting God’s Spirit reform us into the image of Christ (see Phil. 1: 6); but that process (i.e., sanctification), which God will accomplish, is either hastened and facilitated by our steadfastness and vigilance or, if we fail, it is retarded and dampened.
Gideon is an example of one who surrendered in faith (with some degree of wrestling) to God; but over the course of his life, he waned in vigilance and the “stickability” to finish his marathon well; and viewing what transpired after his death, we see [at least in my estimation] that his lack of spiritual vigilance and steadfast faith resulted in God’s people falling away from God’s will. And when that happened, the cycle of sinful and idolatrous living once again caused God to have to force the issue by His people being cast – for a season of selective abandonment – into subjugation by the pagan cultures which consumed God’s people.
Sure, God would stay with His children and discipline them over and over again. But these cycles of disobedience and subjugation were so unnecessary … just as are the consequences of sinful living in the life of Christians. Satan cannot have our souls once we’re saved; but he can have a temporary victory in our lives if we cannot, or more likely, will not, stay in vigilant surrender mode to the ways and will of God. It is only through living a vigilant and well disciplined marathon of Christlike faith that we can and will remain powerful in being able to witness and carry out God’s will and purpose for our lives.
May we all keep-on-keeping-on in our relationship, walk, and witness for Christ in our lives, shining His light into an ever darkening world and allowing others to see us wearing His robes of righteousness rather than displaying our rags of sin when we let our vigilance wane for even a moment.
Stay strong, my fellow warrior; and become that “hero” which God saw in Gideon before this Judge let his life slowly fall apart. I don’t know about you, my fellow Christian, on this April 1st; … but I want to remain vigilant and God’s warrior rather than becoming Satan’s April Fool.
My Prayer Today: … Lord, I run the race, this marathon of living, doing all I can to remain strong by surrendering to Your grace in my life. Amen
Showing posts with label steadfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steadfast. Show all posts
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Thursday, December 30, 2010
2010 – December 30 – The Pure Who Endure
Study from God’s Word… Revelation, Chapters 14 – 19: 5 … Passage for Reflection: Revelation 4: 3 – 5 [underlined] … NIV 1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as first-fruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
My Journal for Today: All this apocalyptic imagery in God’s revelation to John can be mysterious and a bit overwhelming as we read and study this great Book of the Bible, The Revelation, especially trying to get its application for our lives today. But it’s important that we do our best, maybe with the help of teachers, like my devotional shepherd this year, Dr. LaGard Smith, to see how these writings, coming from God’s Spirit through John, having powerful messages we need to heed.
So, today we deal with that number of saints, 144,000, who were saved out of the great tribulation and are discussed in today’s highlight text. What do we glean from a study of their significance? Well, the answer is in why they are mentioned as special; and the explanation can be found in the portion of scripture today which is highlighted in bold and underlined.
My fellow readers, … these 144,000 who were those saved from the later heat of the lake of fire are protected by the Lamb of God because of their PURITY and their STEADFAST FAITH. These were the ones, in spite of the taunts and terrors of Satan and the Anti-Christ, remained sexually pure and followed Christ in the worst of the Great Tribulation, … right to the very end of time as man would know it.
And our application? Well, it’s brought out in today’s question by Dr. Smith, as he writes at the end of his daily devotional: ”In the battle to remain pure, am I overcoming or succumbing?” And that is the question so many in our world, as Christians, are dealing with right now, especially in a world where Satan has created many fortresses and weapons to prevent the lost from finding their way to Christ and for tearing down the testimonies of Christians and rendering their witness as ineffective or worthless.
Think about it. How many Christians, of whom you know, who have fallen prey to impurity, when they know that God calls for purity and devotion to His commands? Christian men are surrounded and enveloped by sexual temptations these days; and these worldly-fleshly superweapons, such as internet pornography, have been created as a tribulation of temptation to draw the attention of the lost onto the flesh and away from the Savior, as well as to draw the focus of Christians onto flesh and away from faith.
No Christian man in this world can be the man God intended for Him to be if he does the opposite of what Christ commanded (see Luke 9: 23), focusing on self and not following the Savior. And Christian men, in droves, are falling on the battlefields of sexual temptations and being rendered powerless as husbands, fathers, community leaders, and, most certainly churchmen.
No, it’s not the Great Tribulation yet; but we get a taste of what that horrible time will be like when we yield to selfish, flesh-driven, temptations and we choose to move away from Godly purity in our unfaithfulness. In these times in which we live, we, who follow Christ, need to become like the faithful 144,000 in those times of the Great Tribulation. We need to heed the call of Christ and deny self, take up our crosses daily, and follow Him … to the end.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, today and tomorrow, purity for Your glory is my focus. Amen
My Journal for Today: All this apocalyptic imagery in God’s revelation to John can be mysterious and a bit overwhelming as we read and study this great Book of the Bible, The Revelation, especially trying to get its application for our lives today. But it’s important that we do our best, maybe with the help of teachers, like my devotional shepherd this year, Dr. LaGard Smith, to see how these writings, coming from God’s Spirit through John, having powerful messages we need to heed.
So, today we deal with that number of saints, 144,000, who were saved out of the great tribulation and are discussed in today’s highlight text. What do we glean from a study of their significance? Well, the answer is in why they are mentioned as special; and the explanation can be found in the portion of scripture today which is highlighted in bold and underlined.
My fellow readers, … these 144,000 who were those saved from the later heat of the lake of fire are protected by the Lamb of God because of their PURITY and their STEADFAST FAITH. These were the ones, in spite of the taunts and terrors of Satan and the Anti-Christ, remained sexually pure and followed Christ in the worst of the Great Tribulation, … right to the very end of time as man would know it.
And our application? Well, it’s brought out in today’s question by Dr. Smith, as he writes at the end of his daily devotional: ”In the battle to remain pure, am I overcoming or succumbing?” And that is the question so many in our world, as Christians, are dealing with right now, especially in a world where Satan has created many fortresses and weapons to prevent the lost from finding their way to Christ and for tearing down the testimonies of Christians and rendering their witness as ineffective or worthless.
Think about it. How many Christians, of whom you know, who have fallen prey to impurity, when they know that God calls for purity and devotion to His commands? Christian men are surrounded and enveloped by sexual temptations these days; and these worldly-fleshly superweapons, such as internet pornography, have been created as a tribulation of temptation to draw the attention of the lost onto the flesh and away from the Savior, as well as to draw the focus of Christians onto flesh and away from faith.
No Christian man in this world can be the man God intended for Him to be if he does the opposite of what Christ commanded (see Luke 9: 23), focusing on self and not following the Savior. And Christian men, in droves, are falling on the battlefields of sexual temptations and being rendered powerless as husbands, fathers, community leaders, and, most certainly churchmen.
No, it’s not the Great Tribulation yet; but we get a taste of what that horrible time will be like when we yield to selfish, flesh-driven, temptations and we choose to move away from Godly purity in our unfaithfulness. In these times in which we live, we, who follow Christ, need to become like the faithful 144,000 in those times of the Great Tribulation. We need to heed the call of Christ and deny self, take up our crosses daily, and follow Him … to the end.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, today and tomorrow, purity for Your glory is my focus. Amen
Thursday, September 17, 2009
2009 – Day 259.Sept 17 – True Convictions
Passage of the Day: Job 27 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: One last run through in Job, Chapter 27, has Chuck Swindoll reflecting on the great church reformers of the 16th Century, men like Martin Luther in Germany, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland, and John Knox in Scotland. These were men, like Job, who stood for they believed in their time against the going tide of the church culture, even to the point of dying for their faith.
Apparently Swindoll had just returned from a tour of where these men had lived and proclaimed their faith in the face of the tribulations of their day. And I identified with Pastor Chuck; because my wife and I have been blessed to be in Switzerland and stood on the spot of where Calvin had to flee from France because of his reformation beliefs and where Zwingli had stood in a pulpit and preached what many considered heresies in those days. These were men who stood for truth in the gap of public trials and some of them went to their deaths, being burned for their faith.
And in Job 27, verses 5 – 6, we read our hero Job, who had been maligned by his three friends, standing up, with personal integrity, for what he believed. He says, …
5 I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.
Now I have to ask myself, in the spirit of the Apostle’s challenge in 2nd Cor. 13: 5 - link provided, “Would I stand up for my faith as did Job or Martin Luther? … Would I be willing to die for my faith as did young Cassie Bernall in the infamous Columbine High School massacre?” I would hope so; but Chuck Swindoll says that Job and these others were likely able to do what they did in the face of dire circumstances because they had prepared their hearts to stand in the gap with three disciplines of their faith.
Using Job as our example, we need to be able to REFLECT ON OUR PAST. When we face loss, physical ailment, or crushing circumstances, as Job certainly did, it’s good to look back and be grateful for what God has done for us in the past. Then it’s a good discipline to REHEARSE OUR PRESENT, acknowledging to God any confusion or quandary in which we find ourselves. And finally, as we read about Job in this Chapter 27, it’s a necessity for us to REAFFIRM OUR FUTURE, by declaring openly where we stand for Christ. As one, like Job, does these three things that one will find that God will pour His enabling grace into our stand for righteousness; and we’ll be able to stand in the gap for our God in the face of the most dire of circumstances.
Oh, how this is my prayer for yours truly as the tenor of our times becomes more and more hostile to the Christian way of life. Who knows, … one day we may be called upon, like a Job, or a Luther, or a Cassie Bernall to stand before a tribunal or even a gun and answer the question, “Are you a Christian?” And at that point I need to know what God has done for me, that He is allowing such troubles in my life for my good, and that I must always stand for His glory … no matter what transpires in my life.
Will I be ready and able to stand? I pray I will.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, prepare me today for what may happen in my future … that I’ll be willing and able to stand for You … no matter what! Amen
My Journal for Today: One last run through in Job, Chapter 27, has Chuck Swindoll reflecting on the great church reformers of the 16th Century, men like Martin Luther in Germany, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli in Switzerland, and John Knox in Scotland. These were men, like Job, who stood for they believed in their time against the going tide of the church culture, even to the point of dying for their faith.
Apparently Swindoll had just returned from a tour of where these men had lived and proclaimed their faith in the face of the tribulations of their day. And I identified with Pastor Chuck; because my wife and I have been blessed to be in Switzerland and stood on the spot of where Calvin had to flee from France because of his reformation beliefs and where Zwingli had stood in a pulpit and preached what many considered heresies in those days. These were men who stood for truth in the gap of public trials and some of them went to their deaths, being burned for their faith.
And in Job 27, verses 5 – 6, we read our hero Job, who had been maligned by his three friends, standing up, with personal integrity, for what he believed. He says, …
5 I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
6 I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.
Now I have to ask myself, in the spirit of the Apostle’s challenge in 2nd Cor. 13: 5 - link provided, “Would I stand up for my faith as did Job or Martin Luther? … Would I be willing to die for my faith as did young Cassie Bernall in the infamous Columbine High School massacre?” I would hope so; but Chuck Swindoll says that Job and these others were likely able to do what they did in the face of dire circumstances because they had prepared their hearts to stand in the gap with three disciplines of their faith.
Using Job as our example, we need to be able to REFLECT ON OUR PAST. When we face loss, physical ailment, or crushing circumstances, as Job certainly did, it’s good to look back and be grateful for what God has done for us in the past. Then it’s a good discipline to REHEARSE OUR PRESENT, acknowledging to God any confusion or quandary in which we find ourselves. And finally, as we read about Job in this Chapter 27, it’s a necessity for us to REAFFIRM OUR FUTURE, by declaring openly where we stand for Christ. As one, like Job, does these three things that one will find that God will pour His enabling grace into our stand for righteousness; and we’ll be able to stand in the gap for our God in the face of the most dire of circumstances.
Oh, how this is my prayer for yours truly as the tenor of our times becomes more and more hostile to the Christian way of life. Who knows, … one day we may be called upon, like a Job, or a Luther, or a Cassie Bernall to stand before a tribunal or even a gun and answer the question, “Are you a Christian?” And at that point I need to know what God has done for me, that He is allowing such troubles in my life for my good, and that I must always stand for His glory … no matter what transpires in my life.
Will I be ready and able to stand? I pray I will.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, prepare me today for what may happen in my future … that I’ll be willing and able to stand for You … no matter what! Amen
Sunday, March 15, 2009
2009 – Day 73.Mar. 15 – “Watch Me Work”
2009 – Day 73.Mar. 15 – “Watch Me Work”
Passage of the Day: Exod. 5: 22 – 6: 12 … Link to Exod. 5 – 6 for study …
My Journal for Today: If you’ve read today’s passage, you may be able to identify with Moses. Here he was, as Swindoll says, feeling “as low as a snake’s belly.” He was doing what God’s word had commanded; and nothing seemed to be working as it should. And this is a theme that runs throughout the Bible and a truth that we simply must learn to live in a world which is hostile to God. And it’s a truth which Swindoll admits makes no sense by worldly standards.
The truth is that God’s best work is done when it makes no human sense; and His best use of His servants is done when his servants are at the end of their rope. Think about it in scripture with so many of God’s prophets and servants and His most glaring victories. There was the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and Sarah with a child being born to two really old folks; and the deliverance of their Son Isaac when God senselessly asked that he die at Abraham’s hand. There was time when Isaiah called down rain and fire from the heavens to the astonishment of the prophets of Baal. There was the time when God saved the Ninevites, much to the astonishment and chagrin of Jonah. There was the time when God led Gideon from threshing wheat in a wine barrel to victory with only 300 soldiers over thousands of the enemies of God. There was the time when Jesus was born into a manger, turned water into wine, walked on water, died on a cross and was resurrected to save mankind.
Do we get the picture? … No, I don’t think we do. It’s an absolute truth that God repeats over and over and over again in His word – that He will do His business in His time and in HIS way. But we, so often, just don’t get it. Jesus’ inner disciples, the twelve who followed the Lord for three years, watching Him perform miracle after miracle after miracle; and they were like all of the rest of us are now. They just didn’t get it. And we need to admit it as well. When we are confronted with the tough circumstances of life which reveal just how weak we are, do we believe the truth from Paul in 2nd Cor. 12: 9 [link provided] – that God’s grace will be sufficient for us in our weakness to demonstrate God’s strength? No, few of us, calling ourselves Christians, really believe the truth of a Romans 8: 28 that ALL things DO work together for the good of a real Christian. … No, in tough times, we mostly react like God’s people reacted in seeing Pharaoh resist Moses in their confrontation of wills. Even God’s Prophet, Moses, balked (see Exod. 5: 22-23 linked above) saying, in essence, “Lord, I did what You said; … what gives?; … Pharaoh’s not cooperating!”
Well, we know, from reading on, that Moses gathered himself and persisted; but the challenge would continue and there would be many more tests and trials and tribulations; and Moses would not have our advantage of knowing (and hopefully believing) what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1st Cor. 10: 13, where God encourages believers that no temptation, trial, or test will be brought into our lives, as Christians, which we cannot handle or deal with when we rely on and stick with God.
I have a symbol which I often use in letters and emails to fellow Christians, encouraging them to “keep on keeping on in Christ.” The symbol is “ <’KOKO>< " … and I’ll let you figure out its significance. But often, when I’m feeling low or incompetent, as Moses must’ve felt, this little symbol helps me remember that God will never forsake me (Heb. 13: 5) and that HE is my strength when I am weak (Phil. 4: 13 - no link here; you should know this one!). So, to any of you who might be feeling weak or incapable right now, I will leave this exhortation with you …
"<’KOKO><"
My Prayer for Today: Lord, Your grace is sufficient – ALWAYS! Amen
Passage of the Day: Exod. 5: 22 – 6: 12 … Link to Exod. 5 – 6 for study …
My Journal for Today: If you’ve read today’s passage, you may be able to identify with Moses. Here he was, as Swindoll says, feeling “as low as a snake’s belly.” He was doing what God’s word had commanded; and nothing seemed to be working as it should. And this is a theme that runs throughout the Bible and a truth that we simply must learn to live in a world which is hostile to God. And it’s a truth which Swindoll admits makes no sense by worldly standards.
The truth is that God’s best work is done when it makes no human sense; and His best use of His servants is done when his servants are at the end of their rope. Think about it in scripture with so many of God’s prophets and servants and His most glaring victories. There was the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and Sarah with a child being born to two really old folks; and the deliverance of their Son Isaac when God senselessly asked that he die at Abraham’s hand. There was time when Isaiah called down rain and fire from the heavens to the astonishment of the prophets of Baal. There was the time when God saved the Ninevites, much to the astonishment and chagrin of Jonah. There was the time when God led Gideon from threshing wheat in a wine barrel to victory with only 300 soldiers over thousands of the enemies of God. There was the time when Jesus was born into a manger, turned water into wine, walked on water, died on a cross and was resurrected to save mankind.
Do we get the picture? … No, I don’t think we do. It’s an absolute truth that God repeats over and over and over again in His word – that He will do His business in His time and in HIS way. But we, so often, just don’t get it. Jesus’ inner disciples, the twelve who followed the Lord for three years, watching Him perform miracle after miracle after miracle; and they were like all of the rest of us are now. They just didn’t get it. And we need to admit it as well. When we are confronted with the tough circumstances of life which reveal just how weak we are, do we believe the truth from Paul in 2nd Cor. 12: 9 [link provided] – that God’s grace will be sufficient for us in our weakness to demonstrate God’s strength? No, few of us, calling ourselves Christians, really believe the truth of a Romans 8: 28 that ALL things DO work together for the good of a real Christian. … No, in tough times, we mostly react like God’s people reacted in seeing Pharaoh resist Moses in their confrontation of wills. Even God’s Prophet, Moses, balked (see Exod. 5: 22-23 linked above) saying, in essence, “Lord, I did what You said; … what gives?; … Pharaoh’s not cooperating!”
Well, we know, from reading on, that Moses gathered himself and persisted; but the challenge would continue and there would be many more tests and trials and tribulations; and Moses would not have our advantage of knowing (and hopefully believing) what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1st Cor. 10: 13, where God encourages believers that no temptation, trial, or test will be brought into our lives, as Christians, which we cannot handle or deal with when we rely on and stick with God.
I have a symbol which I often use in letters and emails to fellow Christians, encouraging them to “keep on keeping on in Christ.” The symbol is “ <’KOKO>< " … and I’ll let you figure out its significance. But often, when I’m feeling low or incompetent, as Moses must’ve felt, this little symbol helps me remember that God will never forsake me (Heb. 13: 5) and that HE is my strength when I am weak (Phil. 4: 13 - no link here; you should know this one!). So, to any of you who might be feeling weak or incapable right now, I will leave this exhortation with you …
"<’KOKO><"
My Prayer for Today: Lord, Your grace is sufficient – ALWAYS! Amen
Saturday, March 14, 2009
2009 – Day 72.Mar. 14 – Misunderstood
2009 – Day 72.Mar. 14 – Misunderstood
Passage of the Day: Exod. 4: 29 – 5: 23 … Link to Exod. 4 – 5 for study …
My Journal for Today: Have you ever been where Moses found him self in this passage of his story? Here Moses did exactly, … EXACTLY, what God asked of him; and the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel were backing Moses. Then the wheels seemed to come off; and Pharaoh didn’t react as it might have been predicted by Moses, Aaron, or God’s chosen ones. No, … for a period, it appears that Pharaoh is the one in control, telling the Hebrews that they must glean their own stubble to use as hay for brick-making and that they will fall under the whip if they couldn’t come up with the count of bricks required for building.
And then Moses responds as most of us would react when and if we face disappointment, disillusionment, and doubt. He first asked “WHY,” and then he asked, “HOW?” Have you ever been misunderstood when you were doing the right and righteous thing? And isn’t your first reaction to go to God and say, “Why, Lord?” And, as Swindoll writes, that is followed by, “Why me; … why now; …why this?” I’ve been there … well, maybe not with the Pharaoh of Egypt, but with many who were following me being adamant that I had blown it when I knew in my heart I had done the right thing. It’s tough to lead when you believe one thing and the world sees it another way.
And the result of what transpires with Moses tells us the story. If you read on ahead, and perhaps you know this old story, life, for a time, looks like the worldly leader, Pharaoh, is in control; but behind the scenes of life, God is ALWAYS in control; and it’s the ones who stay with Him, even when life shows a really hand, who will see righteousness prevail. When the cards really look bad; and the believer in the One True God stays with the hand he is dealt, God will turn the cards – in time – to be in the favor of the faithful ones. And we know that this took some time and a lot of stages of rejection by Pharaoh; but God was there all along and when Moses remained faithful, even through the specter of darkness, the Light of God’s deliverance appeared for God’s people.
It’s so easy to feel abandoned when our righteous acts are misunderstood and rejected by the world. Right now there is much going on in 2009 when I write this which appears like the world is winning over God’s clear way of truth. The leaders and governments of the world are making decisions and passing laws to silence the people of God and put the spokesmen for God in straight jackets of silence. It appears that Pharaoh is winning the war? But those of us who’ve read “THE BOOK” and know “The Truth” must follow our Savior even unto death if that’s what it takes. Because in the end, WE WIN!
And so, I hope we can avoid the WHY NOW syndrome; and stay with the YOUR WAY IS THE ONLY WAY point of view as things get hotter and more difficult in this world. God will never abandon His chosen ones; but we must rise above doubt and show our faith to the world.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to stay the course! Amen
Passage of the Day: Exod. 4: 29 – 5: 23 … Link to Exod. 4 – 5 for study …
My Journal for Today: Have you ever been where Moses found him self in this passage of his story? Here Moses did exactly, … EXACTLY, what God asked of him; and the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel were backing Moses. Then the wheels seemed to come off; and Pharaoh didn’t react as it might have been predicted by Moses, Aaron, or God’s chosen ones. No, … for a period, it appears that Pharaoh is the one in control, telling the Hebrews that they must glean their own stubble to use as hay for brick-making and that they will fall under the whip if they couldn’t come up with the count of bricks required for building.
And then Moses responds as most of us would react when and if we face disappointment, disillusionment, and doubt. He first asked “WHY,” and then he asked, “HOW?” Have you ever been misunderstood when you were doing the right and righteous thing? And isn’t your first reaction to go to God and say, “Why, Lord?” And, as Swindoll writes, that is followed by, “Why me; … why now; …why this?” I’ve been there … well, maybe not with the Pharaoh of Egypt, but with many who were following me being adamant that I had blown it when I knew in my heart I had done the right thing. It’s tough to lead when you believe one thing and the world sees it another way.
And the result of what transpires with Moses tells us the story. If you read on ahead, and perhaps you know this old story, life, for a time, looks like the worldly leader, Pharaoh, is in control; but behind the scenes of life, God is ALWAYS in control; and it’s the ones who stay with Him, even when life shows a really hand, who will see righteousness prevail. When the cards really look bad; and the believer in the One True God stays with the hand he is dealt, God will turn the cards – in time – to be in the favor of the faithful ones. And we know that this took some time and a lot of stages of rejection by Pharaoh; but God was there all along and when Moses remained faithful, even through the specter of darkness, the Light of God’s deliverance appeared for God’s people.
It’s so easy to feel abandoned when our righteous acts are misunderstood and rejected by the world. Right now there is much going on in 2009 when I write this which appears like the world is winning over God’s clear way of truth. The leaders and governments of the world are making decisions and passing laws to silence the people of God and put the spokesmen for God in straight jackets of silence. It appears that Pharaoh is winning the war? But those of us who’ve read “THE BOOK” and know “The Truth” must follow our Savior even unto death if that’s what it takes. Because in the end, WE WIN!
And so, I hope we can avoid the WHY NOW syndrome; and stay with the YOUR WAY IS THE ONLY WAY point of view as things get hotter and more difficult in this world. God will never abandon His chosen ones; but we must rise above doubt and show our faith to the world.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, help us to stay the course! Amen
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