You know the story of the Pharaoh who would not let the Israelites go, even though God told him to, through Moses and Aaron? Why didn’t the Pharaoh do the right thing? The Bible says it was because Pharaoh had a hard heart, that he would not release the Israelites , but it also says that God Himself hardened Pharaoh’s heart. That whole “hardening” idea made me think. Why would God tell Moses to tell Pharaoh to do something that God already knew he would not do? Why would God keep Pharaoh from doing the right thing by hardening His heart? And wasn’t Pharaoh’s heart already hard? The answer to these questions is found in this verse:
And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Exodus 33:19
We do not need to understand God’s reasons. Easier said than done, right? Like me, have you wondered why you have the trial you have or why your plans do not succeed the way you expect them to? As for me, I think it is because I like to know what is going to happen. God had given me many opportunities to see things His way by NOT allowing things to happen. Our expectations and our will can get in the way of His will, which gets top billing. He has been showing me where I need to obey more and expect only what He allows, for His reasons. God sees our obedience as His glory. He deserves it after all:)
I don’t believe Moses and Aaron understood all of God’s commands to them concerning the Pharaoh, but they exalted the Lord anyway, by obeying Him. They knew who He was, their God. Do we need any more reason to obey and exalt God? Like Moses and Aaron, we can trust God because He is Lord and deserves to be glorified.
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. Exodus 14:4
I see a loving reason in this story. God wants to bring more people to Him. He wants the Egyptians to know Him. If He feels He has to harden a heart to bring Egyptians into knowledge of who He is, isn’t that a good result? It shows His perogative as God, to do what He wants to do, because He loves us all. We can doubt Him and trust our own reasoning, or we can give Him our doubts and trust HIM. In exalting God, we are saying we know why He does what He does. He is God. He is loving. He has loving reasons that we cannot see, and that is okay. We know He loves us and He is good!
Just a thought… If we believe we know exactly why God does everything He does, who are we exalting? Maybe ourselves?
Dear God,
Thank You for being such a just and fair God. Because we are human, we fail at times to give You glory for all that you do. Like the Pharaoh, our hearts can become hard and we may exalt and trust our own opinions more than Yours . When we fall short, feel free to remind us that You are God, so that when You ask us to do something for You , we do it fully and with Your glory in mind. Fill us with the courage and ability to do Your will on earth, even when we do not totally understand it. We love You so much and ask that You bless us with opportunities to serve You more. Amen
Love and prayers to all! Have a great Thursday! Stay safe if you have snow and ice like we do here!
Just me. Just His.
Tina
Glory in the Morning 