Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Lessons out of Egypt

“So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. He bowed low and kissed him. They asked about each other’s welfare and then went into Moses’ tent. Moses told his father-in-law everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and Egypt on behalf of Israel. He also told about all the hardships they had experienced along the way and how the Lord had rescued his people from all their troubles. Jethro was delighted when he heard about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel as he rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians.” (Exodus 18:7-9)

As Moses met up with his father-in-law Jethro, he discussed everything God had done for Israel and how God delivered them out of Egypt. I’m sure he told Jethro of God’s faithfulness, power, and miracles he performed to deliver them from their bondage. One thing that really stood out to me was the next verse. “He also told about all the hardships they had experienced along the way…” I’m sure the people of Israel may have thought once God delivered them from the land of slavery that everything would be “peaches and cream” from here on out but it wasn’t. There were still trials and there were still tests-all to prove God’s faithfulness and to see if they would obey God’s instructions. Sometimes that’s how we are as believers. We tell of God’s faithfulness of how he saved us and delivered us from “our Egypt” but we must realize we WILL HAVE HARDSHIPS ALONG THE WAY EVEN AFTER EGYPT! My question is. What will you do when those hardships come? Go back to Egypt? We will experience hardships in every area of life. How will we respond? How will we respond when we hit hard times at church? Leave or walk it out? What about marriage? Leave or walk it out? What about other important relationships? Give up or walk it out? We can’t just rejoice out our deliverence from Egypt but rejoice in God’s goodness as he brings us through troubles as well.

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