Exodus 6:1 YHWH said to Moshe [Moses], “Now you will see what I am going to do to Pharaoh. With a mighty hand he will send them off; with force he will drive them from the land!” All through Exodus 5, the people of Israel feel the backlash of Moshe’s request to Pharaoh to let God’s people go. Pharaoh, instead of agreeing or simply saying “no”, makes the already difficult task of making bricks for building projects even more difficult by requiring the Israelites to find their own straw. Instead of a rescue, Moshe the man sent by God has caused a huge setback and an even worse situation. So Moshe turns to God and asks Him why he was sent. God tells him to watch and see what He will do to Pharaoh. God needs to make a point with Pharaoh, utterly crushing the so-called power of the Egyptian “gods’, down to the god-man, Pharaoh himself. How often is this like our lives? God promises something incredible, but instead of getting better, things seem to get worse. For me, it’s scary and often faith-shaking as I wonder what on earth God is doing. But, one thing that the Torah and the apostles all agree on is God’s faithfulness. In the story of Moshe, the darkness before the dawn of hope makes Pharaoh cocky. When God systematically destroys the “power” of each of the Pharaoh’s gods, He shows the Israelite people (and the Egyptians) that there is only one God, who has power over everything. Ultimately, when the Israelites are sent from Egypt, they go with all the gold and silver and jewels of the Egyptians, richer than they ever would have been if they’d have left on their own. In our lives, the darkness before the dawn is a time when God deals with some of the ugliness in us so that when it is time to step out, we can step out richer and stronger and more confident in our God’s power. That tough time is a good time to work on strengthening our warfare strategies and our prayer muscles. It’s a time to keep an eye out for the ways that God is destroying the “gods” we’ve raised up in our lives. And it’s a time to wait with anticipation for the moment when God finally says, “GO!”
Genesis 13 is the story of Abram’s separation from Lot. Their flocks were grazing the same land, and their shepherds were fighting over the water and the best grasslands. So, Abram gives Lot the pick of the land. Lot, of course, chooses the land that is lush and green. The narrator (Moses?) describes it as being like the Lord’s garden (Eden?). I thought that was interesting – either people still remembered the beautify of Eden or perhaps it was still a location that people could see. Although, it was probably destroyed in the flood. Anyway, Abram is left with the desert, seemingly stark and worthless plains and hills. I wonder if Abram was kicking himself mentally because he knew that he would get the leftovers. But, what seemed void of life became a land of promise and hope. As Lot moves out and Abram moves on, God makes a promise to Abram that his descendents would be as numerous as the sand! Never mind the fact that Abram’s wife, Sarai, was barren. God said it, so it must be true. Eventually, Lot’s land was destroyed by fire and brimstone (remember Sodom and Gomorrah?), but Abram’s land becomes the Promised Land. How often does a landscape that seems hopeless and miserable become a land of brilliant color, great promise, and hope? It didn’t necessarily look that way during Abram’s lifetime, but God isn’t bothered by little details like one person’s limited lifespan. He didn’t abandon His promise to Abram. He doesn’t abandon His promises to us, either. Things aren’t always as they appear. Maybe this miserable, scraping-through time, is just part of a journey to a land of promise and hope. Maybe under the sand and the dust there is treasure!
I am the apple of my Father’s eye I am sweet, overflowing, and beautiful I am protected by His hand and opened wide to let in light Given out to bring hope, I am useful Thoughts for the Day Genesis 1:22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Did you ever notice that there are only two things that God blesses and commands to multiply? It’s true. He blesses the creatures in the sea and the birds of the air, and He blesses the man and the woman. I think it’s interesting that He doesn’t bless the animals on the land or anything else that He created. I wonder why this is? Maybe because the creatures of the sea and the birds were intended to be food and therefore needed to be plentiful. I don’t know, but it’s kind of interesting.
Psalm 22:1-5 For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David. My God, my God,why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest. Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed This is another “mountain” poem where the A-B-C-B-A pattern is used. But there’s another effect that’s pretty cool. Verse once asks why he was forsaken and why God seemed so far away, but verse five remembers God’s faithfulness in hearing the cries of his forefathers and delivering them. Verse two talks about how he cries all all the time, but verse four acknowledges that his forefathers trusted God and were delivered. They cried out, too, and were answered. Verse three is the pinnacle and proclaims the holiness of God, His sovereignty, His seperateness, His faithfulness. He is on the throne, which means He is in control of it all, even when I don’t understand it or see it or hear it. The first two verses are the the dark side of the mountain, where everything seems like it’s out of control and where it seems like I’m all alone. But at the top there’s a realization, or perhaps a rememberance, followed by a declaration that God is holy and in control. The final two verses are the sunny side of the mountain. By remembering God’s past faithfulness I am encouraged. I see how He rescued in the past and did not disappoint me in the past, and this gives me strength to keep moving forward. I think that’s pretty awesome!
Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. I feel like the ground opened up underneath me, and I have fallen into the valley of shadows. In this place lies twist themselves into a disjointed song that weaves itself into a distorted version of truth. In this place the mistakes of the past are recounted and counted, stacking themselves against me, plunging the scale further and further down – guilty! In this place the light struggles to break through, and darkness and pain threatens to overwhelm. In this place it would be so much easier to lay down and give up, to stop fighting, to stop trying to explain. In this place I want to hide, cringing and crying. In this place the unexpected creeps up, stalking its prey until the final moment of attack. In this place the truth is trampled and turned, warped into strange angry shapes that are no longer recognizable. In this place time is marked by the bubbling of festering wounds left too long unattended. In this place pain not my own oozes from the ground, surrounding my feet, threatening to drown me in its thick, suffocatingly stickiness. Remember, it whispers, Not the goodness, faithfulness, kindness. Remember the mistakes, the hurt, the faults. Don’t let go. Remember…. In this place anger is a seductive dance, slowly swaying but getting faster, faster, faster, more chaotic, more erratic, more explosive. STOP! Darkness cannot win. I cannot stop here. Although I am powerless to unwind the lies and distortion, although I am powerless to undo my mistakes, although I am powerless to defend myself I am not alone. I am not defeated. In this darkness my only shield is Your truth. My only hope is Your presence. My only defense is Your gentle touch, a soft whisper that brushes across my cheek. In this battle for the mind and heart, I have no weapons save one – prayer. I have no strength to fight save one – Yours. I have no ability to rescue, but You do. You can. You will. _____________________________________________________ I am reminded of a song “O How He Loves” When heaven meets earth is an unforseen kiss And my heart beats violently inside of my chest And I don’t have time to explain all of this When I think about the way that You love me! O, how You love me! O how You love me! O how You love! And another “Overcome” We will overcome! By the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony Everyone Overcome! And another “Mighty to Save” Savior! He can move the mountains! Our God is mighty to save He is mighty to save! Forever, author of salvation, Our God is mighty to save He is mighty to save! And more… Jesus loves me, this I know! For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, We are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so. I love You Lord, And I lift my voice To worship You, O my soul, rejoice! Take joy my King, In what You hear! May it be a sweet, sweet sound In Your ears.
I was reading a note on Skip’s website regarding some of the crazy things that have happened lately – mainly that everything has broken this month (and really, it has) and has been incredibly expensive to fix (and it has to get fixed). It’s things like that that pull at my heart and make me want to do something or give something. And it’s so frustrating because right now we have nothing to give, no comfort other than words that I hope are encouraging. I realize that God knows what He’s doing. He is HOLY. He is sovereign. He reigns over all those details. And they’re important to Him because He knows they’re important to us. But that doesn’t make it any easier when we’re in the middle of it all. I hope that some day my family has enough financial freedom that we can be an extension of the hand of God and pour back a little of the blessing that He’s given us.
Psalm 77:14 You are the God of miracles and wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. You might think, because this verse is out of context that this Psalm is a song of praise. Part of it is, but just prior to this verse Asaph, the writer, is crying out to God because his prayers are unanswered and he is in distress. Interesting, isn’t it? He cries out to God and asks Him if His promises will fail forever, but within a few verses he switches focus from his frustration and questioning to remembering God’s might and power and all the things He’s done in the past. I say it all the time – Worship is the way out. It’s from one of my favorite books (In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day). But here’s another example of worship in the middle of trouble. I don’t know what Asaph’s issue was or how it was resolved. I do know that even in His frustration and trouble He looked to God’s might and remembered the amazing things God had done in the past. So, maybe, in application, I need to focus on God’s might and faithfulness, remembering all the awesome things He’s done in the past. Even if my situation doesn’t resolve itself immediately (and we don’t know what happened in Asaph’s case – at least I don’t know – do you?), my eyes are on God and I can have hope for the future, whatever that may be.