There is Nothing Harder Than Turning Over a New Leaf. Exodus 7-12.

Haven’t we all had this experience? You swear off sweets, then arrive at work and it’s the boss’s birthday party and you have to accept a piece of cake?  Or you join a gym and suddenly your work responsibilities double and you feel like you’ll never be able to work out and you might as well quit? Or you have a plan for daily Bible reading but suddenly you are too sick to read, and when you finally feel better, you are overwhelmed with your to-do list, and reading the Bible feels like a luxury you cannot afford?

Change is hard.  Big change is really hard.

America’s founders wanted a divorce from the Mother Country.  They declared their independence citing 27 grievances against King George III.  What happened?  All-out war.  But Americans maintained their RESOLVE and built the greatest nation of independence and representative democracy in history.

But on one issue, the founders punted: slavery.  It was a problem they could not address while also battling England and establishing a fledgling nation.  Eighty years (four score) later, their descendants ended the evil practice of slavery—and the nation paid for it in a bloodbath resulting in more deaths than all other US wars combined.

Ancient Egypt also enshrined an evil system of slavery—and that nation paid a price too: the ten plagues so greatly crippled Egypt that it never again achieved the prominence it once had.  The fish were destroyed, crops destroyed, livestock destroyed (what’s left to eat?), first-born males destroyed, the army destroyed.

Change is hard.  Really big change is REALLY HARD.

“Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men STUMBLE BADLY, yet those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength.  They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” Isaiah 40:30-31.

It is hard to change. EXPECT resistance and problems.  Sometimes you will STUMBLE BADLY.  Hang in there! Change anyway.  It is worth it!

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Child Sacrifice is Not a “Trade-off.”

Cultures around the world have been killing children longer than there has been recorded history, including the Aztecs, the Incas, the Mayans, the Carthaginians (who worshipped Moloch), the Phoenicians, non-Muslim Arabians, Ugandans, South Africans, and more.

Why? What could motivate loving parents to toss their children into fires and volcanoes? I believe the devil is behind it. He hates God, and to hurt God, he attacks the most vulnerable and innocent—children. Consequently, through one deception or another, our enemy has been convincing people to kill children for centuries. Is your city having a plague? Kill more children. Is an army going to attack at dawn? Sacrifice your children to your pagan gods. Bargain with your idols—maybe if you bring death to your children, the “gods” of wood and stone that you worship will stop sending death to your family. It’s a bargain, right? A trade-off. Have earthquakes been destroying your village? Throw some children into the crevasse. Appease the gods of the earth by giving them the thing that you love most. Are you pregnant and the baby is going to mess up your plans for college or a career? Make a deal with your fate, make a bargain. Terminate your child so you can have a great career. It’s just another trade-off right?

When the Hebrew people began to outnumber the Egyptians (400 years after Joseph), the Pharaoh told the mid-wives to kill all the male children. The mid-wives refused, and God blessed them with families of their own. The Pharaoh then commanded the Egyptians to kill all the male children born to the Hebrews. The Bible does not say how many Hebrew boys were killed, but the rule was serious enough that Jochebed, the mother of Moses, kept him hidden for three months, then put him in a basket at the riverbank, hoping (I believe) that the Pharaoh’s daughter would have mercy on the child. God greatly blessed Moses and through him, his mother, Jochebed. God rewarded her faith and obedience.

Years later, Herod was so afraid of Jesus, whom he considered a rival king, that he told his soldiers to slaughter every male child two years of age and under. Satan continues to attack children around the globe, through whatever means. I believe, as do many Christians, that the evil of abortion is the modern world’s equivalent of child sacrifice. People in our culture cannot stomach the idea of killing babies. But if you back the timeline up two or three months, many find it quick and painless. After all, they have not seen or held their child yet, so they have less sense of loss. On top of that, people who get abortions have already begun to think of the child as a problem, an inconvenience, and they want that problem to go away. An abortion seems like an easy way to solve a huge problem. Moms and dads and abortionists see it as a trade-off, a “victimless crime.” Mom “terminates” a pregnancy today and “gets on with her life,” and then later she will have a baby at a time that better fits her plans.

God does not see it that way. It is NOT a trade-off, and it is certainly not a “victimless crime.” The child is a victim, and so are the parents. The loss is huge and painful and leaves scars that will trouble the parents for years to come. And what does God say about those who kill their children, sacrificing them to idols?

“I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from the nation, because he has given his child to Moloch. He shall surely be put to death. [Sacrificing children] never came into My mind, that they should do this abomination!” Leviticus 20:3,2; Jeremiah 32:35.

God pronounces a penalty of death to those who kill their own children. He takes this sin seriously!

But what about those who do not choose abortion? God will bless them. They probably got pregnant out of wedlock. Their actions were immoral and wrong, a sin as serious as adultery. But God will bless them for NOT choosing abortion—for not murdering their child. Consider the story of the Hebrew mid-wives.

“So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.” So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, He gave them families and children of their own.”

Exodus 1: 18-21. 

The Hebrew mid-wives obeyed God, honored children, and God gave them children of their own. Isn’t that a perfect reward for their obedience?

How are you obeying God today? What are you doing right? Think about an area where you consistently obey God. He will bless you in that area. Just as the mid-wives took care of the babies and were blessed with babies of their own, when you are obedient, God will bless you in that very area, in that same realm. If you are faithful about schoolwork, God will make you a successful student. If you are a good friend to others, God will reward you with more friends. If you honor God with your money, He may bless you with money.

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Anticipating What God Might Do.

God prepares us before he calls us.  Often we are born with the gifts we will need, and our experience births in us a desire to work in the area of those gifts.  Some of us will have an overwhelming desire to DO the work, but no idea HOW to do it.  Have you ever had a desire to do something great for the Lord, but no idea HOW?

At 40, Moses knew he was in a good position to help the enslaved Hebrews.  He was one of them by blood and birth, but had all the advantages of having been raised in the Egyptian palace: he spoke the language, knew the religion, the food, the customs.  He was a perfect liaison to work with the two sides to free the Hebrews. 

So he got involved.  First, he interfered with an Egyptian and a Hebrew fighting. He killed the Egyptian.  The next day, he found two Hebrews fighting and tried to get them to work it out. They turned on him:

“Who made you a ruler and judge over us?” Exodus 2:14. 

(Answer? NO ONE.) 

The men called Moses a murderer, and he fled the nation.  For the next FORTY YEARS, he must have felt his life was a waste.  The would-be international diplomat was now a fugitive shepherd in the middle of nowhere.

But God was not finished with Moses. The forty years in the wilderness were critical. God was preparing him.  He was teaching him humility, servanthood, and devotion to the God he may not have grown up worshipping. Then God came to Moses at the burning bush. At 80, God officially made him “a ruler and judge” over His people—forty years after the question was first asked.

Do you have passions and talents you yearn to use for the Lord? Be patient. Trust God’s timing. “Be faithful in the small things” and God will make you ruler over big things, Matthew 25:23.

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God Heard Their Groaning. He Saw. He Took Notice.

When the Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews and treated them cruelly, God paid attention. It must have seemed to go on forever. But God was not ignoring the problem. The Hebrews cried out to God and He was already busily at work raising up a leader who would deliver God’s people. (You know who that was, right?)

Exodus 2:23-25 sums it up:

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, and they cried out; and their cry for help rose to God. So God HEARD their groaning, and He REMEMBERED His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God SAW the Israelites, and He TOOK NOTICE.

Do you ever feel like God does not see your struggles? Do you ever feel like He is just not aware of how bad it hurts? Do you ever feel like He has forgotten you? Or that He is not hearing your prayers? Do you ever wonder how God can let you struggle with the same problems for years and years? (That has been an interesting journey for me; I have struggled with certain problems longer than I ever imagined, longer than I have even been a parent. Finances have been a challenge since I was a young, unmarried teacher.) So I do know it is easy to feel discouraged. But God never misses our pain. The Bible says He captures your tears—every tear—in a bottle. He sees and understands your suffering.

You may have noticed I capitalized each letter of the key verbs in the verses above. What did God do when His people cried out to Him?

He HEARD.

He REMEMBERED His covenant and His promises.

He SAW their suffering.

He TOOK NOTICE.

Amen! Isn’t that great? God saw their pain, heard their prayers, and He TOOK NOTICE. Amen. And consider this—the people were probably enslaved for more than a generation or two—God allowed them to suffer for a long time. But look at the amazing, miraculous, historic events that followed. When the Israelites walked out of Egypt, and when God drowned the entire Egyptian army and its chariots, the entire known world heard about it. All the nations were struck with the fear of God. All of them heard the news of all ten plagues, the death of the first-born sons, and the drowning of the world’s greatest army. Everyone knew about it and gave God the glory. And in the four thousand years since, the world continues to respect the amazing story of the Exodus.

My point? If we endure lengthy struggles, it may be so that God can do something amazing. In the end, the amazing deliverance will make the struggle seem small by comparison. Paul says that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us” Romans 8:18. God is going to do something so amazing that the glory to come will cause the struggle to seem insignificant by comparison.

God hears you. God sees your struggles. God hears your prayers. He takes notice. Be excited about that. The Hebrews were. When they heard that God had sent Moses, they were thankful.

The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped. Exodus 4:31.

Dear God, thank you that you hear our prayers! Thank you that you see our problems and you take notice of our suffering. Help us to be encouraged, and to have the faith and hope to know that You are doing something great in our lives, even through our problems. Thank you that you notice, and that you never miss anything. We love you and we trust you. Thank you for the comfort and peace that you give us every day.

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Have You Been Desperate for Rescue?

The people of Israel were desperate. Pharaoh was cracking the whip, forcing them to do hard work for long hours. Those who resisted endured the lashings—and then had to get back to work anyway.  Pharaoh put cruel slave drivers in charge.  The usual rule: be as cruel as you have to be, but don’t injure slaves to the point it slows down productivity.  Still, you make an example out of the worst ones now and then. 

“They worked them RUTHLESSLY and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They RUTHLESSLY imposed all this work on them” Exodus 1:13-14.

Israel was DESPERATE.  The people begged God for relief.  And God sent Moses, accompanied by his brother Aaron. When the two spoke to the elders and showed them miracles, the Hebrews were encouraged.

“The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped” Exodus 4:31.

The elders of Israel did not simply pray for relief.  They BELIEVED.  That is a key factor, though easy to overlook: when God sends relief and rescue, you must BELIEVE and ACCEPT IT.  These people knew little about Moses (except that he was 80 years old and had left Egypt 40 years earlier under the cloud of scandal), and Aaron, even older, was nobody. 

But the leaders recognized the Hand of God.  They BELIEVED and they bowed down and worshipped.

When God sends you relief, when He delivers you from that desperate situation, when He encourages your broken heart, when He sends hope when you feel hopeless—BELIEVE GOD and accept what He is offering.  Embrace it.  Even if it is not the relief you had in mind.  When you see the Hand of God at work, accept it, be encouraged, and worship God.

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The School of Hard Knocks.

As a child, I broke rules and tested boundaries. I considered rules challenges to be overcome.  How do you think that worked out? Poorly, I can assure you. I spent most of my time in trouble, learning everything the hard way. My younger brother, on the other hand, employed keen powers of observation: he learned by watching my mistakes. He did not enroll in the SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS. Instead, he gained wisdom by watching the trouble I got into. That is a much easier path to wisdom.

You can learn wisdom by experience; it is both the slowest and most painful route.  Or you can learn by watching the experiences of others—a painless, but slow process.  Finally, you can learn wisdom by accepting good advice, i.e., WISE COUNSEL—that is the fastest and easiest route to wisdom.

So where do you find wise counsel?  The best sources are: OTHER PEOPLE (parents, teachers, mentors, bosses), THE CHURCH (preachers, teachers, peers, even lyrics to hymns and worship songs), and PRAYER (James 1:5 says God will generously give wisdom to those who ask). 

But the best source of wise counsel is THE BIBLE itself.  THE BIBLE is LOADED with wisdom, absolutely loaded.

“The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life. The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy MAKING THE INEXPERIENCED WISE” Psalm 19:7.

Being young means being inexperienced, correct?  There are many things—many problems—you have not yet encountered.  You LACK experience.  HOWEVER, if you know the Bible, if you study it every day, it will give you the wisdom that most people only gain from spending years in the School of Hard Knocks.  The Bible will ‘make the inexperienced wise.’ What a great promise!  Would you rather learn everything the hard way, or the easy way?  Learning from the Word of God is so much better than learning through a constant string of failures! 

God, make us better students of your Word, and give us wisdom generously!

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Can You Rest With God?

Our world buzzes, a hive of activity. Watch morning television: four anchors, stories about war, the economy, weather, business, sports, entertainment, consumer advice, cooking, movies, music.  The cycle repeats every hour. On the radio people shout news and politics.  Phones blow up with viral videos, courtroom dramas, phishing scams.  There is no peace.

The great saints of the Bible knew peace with God free from the noise of the world, from AMBITION, striving, anxiety, and fear.  Have you experienced Divine Peace?

After Job cursed his birth and argued with God extensively, God showed up.  The encounter with Almighty God calmed Job. This tragic figure who was ready to file a lawsuit against God says:

“How can I answer You?  I place my hand over my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not reply” 40:4-5.  “I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know … I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I take back my words” Job 42:3,5-6.

God tells us to rest: “CEASE STRIVING, and KNOW that I AM GOD.  I will be exalted among the nations and I will be exalted in the earth”  Psalm 46:10. 

David rests, writing: “I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God, I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever” Psalm 52:8.   And “One thing I have asked of the Lord, that shall I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple” Psalm 27:4.

David sums it up beautifully: “surely I have calmed and quieted my soul.  As a weaned child rests upon its mother, so my soul rests in Thee” Psalm 131:2.  Can you rest with God like a child resting with its mother? If not, you may not yet know God the way Job and David did. 

Pray that He will help you know Him so deeply that you can rest in Him.

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Don’t Bury God’s Word Under Empty Distractions. Job 38:2.

Begin your day with God’s word. Don’t let TV and social media fill your head with the noise of the anxious, fighting world.  Begin your day with God’s voice.  End your day with God’s voice.

Imagine: You’ve lost your riches, your status, your health, and your children. Your farm and ranch operation is destroyed.  Once the city fathers put their hands over their mouths so as not to interrupt you when you spoke—but now homeless men mock you, Job 29:9; 30:9. 

Your friends come to visit. For days the five of you debate God and the “problem of evil.” They say you have sinned because God would not allow such devastation to happen to a righteous man. You argue you have not sinned and that God has chosen you for bad treatment.

Finally, GOD SPEAKS.

How will God begin? In this case, he will not speak with a “still, small voice.” Instead, he blows in with a TORNADO.  A furious storm overwhelms Job:

“Who is this who darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” Job 38:2.

(Huh?) 

God is asking a rhetorical question.  It’s a bit like “Who do you think you are?”  But God adds that Job’s words “darken counsel.”  That is, Job’s complaints have obscured the light of God’s truth.  In other words, by accusing God of treating him unfairly, Job has thrown shade on God’s reputation, or “darkened” God’s wise counsel.

I like to paraphrase the question: Who is this who makes My purpose and instructions unclear by saying things that are untrue and void of knowledge?

WHO IS THIS THAT OBSCURES MY WORDS OF WISDOM BY BURYING THEM UNDER WORDS OF IGNORANCE?[1]

Sometimes Facebook makes me feel that way.  I walk silently to my car after scrolling the net and hear hundreds of ignorant, angry voices ringing in my ears, trolls and “social media warriors” screaming about anything and everything.  I don’t want their ignorant words to block God’s words of wisdom and peace.

Read the Word for PEACE OF MIND. Focus on God’s counsel in mornings, evenings, and all day.

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[1] Note the way Job restates God’s question: “You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel with ignorance?’” Job 42:3.

Who is This Who Questions God?

What if God came to you and said, “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” Can you imagine that? That’s what He said to Job.

Job suffered greatly; everyone agrees. And he complained greatly. For 37 chapters, God listened silently to Job’s bitter complaints, most of which could be summed up as “I wish I had never been born” (Job 3:1, 3:16, 10:19). Finally, God answered the man. Job must have been shocked and terrified—he never expected God to bother. But God had a lot to say. He spoke to Job throughout chapters 38, 39, 40, and 41. God’s first lines are famous:

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you questions and you can instruct me!” Job 38:2-3.

God says, “Who is this who buries my words of wisdom under his own words of ignorance? Stand up and fight like a man, and answer my questions.”

Can you imagine God saying that to you? Of course, you won’t be able to answer ANY of God’s questions. But He is going to ask.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who set its measurements, since you know?” Who enclosed the sea? Where is the snow and hail stored? How does the lightning flash? Can you command the lightning and thunder? Do lightning bolts come to you and say, ‘here we are’? Where is darkness stored? Tell me, since you know. Can you make the constellations travel across the night sky? Do you give strength to the horse? Do you adorn its neck with a mane? Does the eagle soar at your command? Does the hawk take flight by your understanding?”

Finally God says to Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer.”

What can Job say? God is waiting on an answer. What would YOU say? After two chapters of un-answerable questions, are you humbled yet? Have you realized that you have no right to question God?

Job repents.

“Behold, I am insignificant. What can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; even twice and I will add nothing more.” Job 40:4-5.

Job gets it. He knows it is time to shut up, to “be still and know that He is God.”

God goes on, schooling his accuser:

“Would you really challenge my justice? Would you declare Me guilty to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His? Can you capture the Behemoth [probably a Rhino] and pierce his nose with a ring? Can you pull in Leviathan [probably a Nile Crocodile or even a dinosaur] with a hook, or tie his tongue down with a rope? Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan; who then can stand against Me? Everything under heaven belongs to Me.”

God goes on and when He is finished, Job repents again. May this be our attitude toward God:

“Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know…. I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore, I repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:3-6.

Job lived another 140 years, and God blessed him by doubling everything: He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, 1,000 female donkeys, plus seven more sons and three more daughters. (And the number of children did not double from ten to twenty. Do you know why? Because God knows the first ten are alive in heaven. Job has not really lost them. This is an early indication of the resurrection.)

In the end, Job has had an amazing experience with God, a revelation every bit as incredible as those given to Noah, Moses, and others.

Dear God, help us to walk by faith, no matter how hard our circumstances might be. Thank you for the incredible example set by Job.

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Boss.

JOB was a boss.  He owned fantastic wealth.  The Bible calls him “the greatest man among all the peoples of the East” 1:3.  He understood lawsuits; he knew how to secure justice.  When young men saw him they backed away, older men stood, city officials and noblemen stopped talking.  “Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my advice … I lived as a king among his troops” 29:21,25. 

The Bible lists Job’s 12,000 head of livestock (“live-stock,” a term that could be translated “money on the hoof”), yet it does not number his servants.  The number must have been high. 

Job was not A boss.  Job was THE boss.

Then God—the REAL boss—came to this junior-boss with questions.  Imagine God asking these questions of today’s bosses: world leaders, corporate executives, CEOs, generals, coaches.

“Who do you think you are?  Where were you at creation? How was the world made? What keeps the oceans in place? Who keeps the planets and stars in orbit? Where are lightning bolts stored? How are the lions fed? Can you give orders to a wild donkey and make him work for you? Will the wild ox serve you and harvest your grain? Can you boss the ostrich? Who put the mane on the horse? Can you explain that? Can you give orders to the eagle, telling it where to soar, and where to build its nest?” Job chapters 38 and 39.

How would you respond if God asked you these questions? What can an insignificant human say to GOD?  Even a king must humble himself.  King Nebuchadnezzar learned that lesson when God touched the proud king’s mind and left him crawling on all fours and eating grass for seven years (Daniel 4).  But Job had wisdom; God merely spoke the words and Job humbled himself.

“I am insignificant. How can I answer You? I place my hand over my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not reply.  Twice, but now I can add nothing” Job 40:4-5.

God, give us humility.

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