February 2 - Exodus 4:18-7:13

Good morning everyone, 

As we begin reading today you’ll remember God has spoken to Moses and told him to go back to Egypt and lead His people out to freedom. Though not sure how he is going to do all that God has asked him, Moses will go to his father-in-law, Jethro, make him aware of God’s plans, then pack up his wife and baby and head on down the road to meet up with his brother Aaron where together they will go to confront Pharaoh. 

In 4:24-26 we are told that the Lord nearly kills Moses. Years ago, the first time I read this, I went “what?” I was confused. Then I looked deeper into it and it all made sense. You see, Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s house where they clearly wouldn’t teach Hebrew tradition; then he spent a great deal of his life just roaming the desert; then he married a Midianite woman who’s customs may have opposed circumcision; that, and God’s covenant with Israel had not been actively carried out for quite some time. Nonetheless, Moses could not effectively serve God in any capacity until he had fulfilled all the condition’s of God’s covenant. Fortunately Zipporah recognized what was going on and quickly took care of the problem by circumcising the baby.

Moses and Aaron, go to the elders of the Israelites, tell them God’s plan, and we’re told that when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them they bowed down and worshipped.  Oh what relief they must have felt in that moment.

Now Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh. For a moment think about this guy Pharaoh. He is a powerful man, NO one tells him what to do, also he was familiar with many gods but had never heard of the God of Israel and probably assumed He could not be very powerful, but boy is he in for a big surprise, right? So when Moses and Aaron go before him and say “God says, let my people go” Pharaoh says “No, way!” then doubles the work load of the enslaved Hebrews.

Well … that didn’t go exactly as Moses had thought it would, imagine his confusion. Soon we will see, though, that there is a reason for what God has planned. That it is a process. Sometimes hardship continues to come us even though we are obeying God, following the Bible and His guidelines for our lives. If you are suffering or going through a tough time, don’t feel for one instant that you have fallen out of favor with God. Some suffering is to make us stronger. 

I like to think about the metamorphous which the caterpillar must undergo to transform from the caterpillar into the butterfly; here this caterpillar is going on about life then the next thing he knows he is in this dark, cavern of a place and changes are happening, painful changes perhaps, that he is not in the least bit familiar with. That would be totally frightening, yes? Though through the pain and the growth the ugly ole caterpillar will become a beautiful butterfly. However, the butterfly cannot possibly fly until it first forces it's way out of the cocoon, a process which takes some time and a great deal of effort.

We are often like the caterpillar in as much as we can go through our everyday life having no idea of our true potential, how beautiful we can be. Then life will get hard hard and it seems kind of unfair to us and we wonder, “what’s going on?” So we pray but get no immediate answer and we just don’t know what to do next. It is those times we need to be persistent and though it may be painful, force on in the faith of God’s great plan, allow Him to grow you in those times of trouble until, like the butterfly, you break free from the dark and see the beauty of the Lord shinning in you. Amen?

I pray you have a wonderful day. To God be the glory!

God bless you all.

Oh! And, it is Super Bowl Sunday so I have just got to say … GO! Hawks!!