Apples of Gold

Confession time, I can be somewhat stubborn at times. I picture my husband reading this, smirking at what he would likely consider a serious understatement! 

At times stubbornness serves me well. I don’t give up easily. I finish what I have started, even if I am crawling across the finish line looking like I have just traversed the Mojave Dessert with nothing but a small canteen of water. Sometimes I pay for my stubbornness the next day or two and wonder why I was driven to push so hard.

In an ever-evolving culture, with shifting morals and wavering priorities stubbornly clinging to what we KNOW to be true is no longer optional. But what about those things that have long since served their purpose? As we go deeper in the word and life experience we occasionally find our point of view was somewhat askew. Yet we continue to cleave to our long-held position, ignoring the nudge of the Holy Spirit.

It would serve some of us well to learn a thing or two from Elsa, in the movie Frozen and “Let it Go!”  Perhaps Pharaoh could have saved himself and the Egyptians some trouble if he had been willing to consider letting the Israelites go before things got so disruptive. 

The LORD did just as he had said. The next morning all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but the Israelites didn’t lose a single animal. Pharaoh sent his officials to investigate and they discovered that the Israelites had not lost a single animal! But even so, Pharaoh’s heart remained stubborn, and he still refused to let the people go. Exodus 9:6-7

God had warned Pharaoh, through Moses and Aaron, that he was not playing around. Pharaoh wasn’t used to being told what to do. He was usually the one spewing out demands.

These few verses come packed with enormous implications:

God does just what he says! 

Moses had warned Pharaoh about what was coming:

The Hand of the Lord will strike all your livestock-your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats-with a deadly plague. But the LORD will again make a distinction between the livestock of the Israelites and that of the Egyptians. Not a single one of Israel’s animals will die. Exodus 9:3-4

It didn’t take long for Pharaoh to realize that the Egyptians livestock had been decimated. He was curious to see how the Israelites had fared. Surely a plague of this magnitude had impacted them as well. If even one animal in Israel had lost its life then he would have the God of Moses in a corner. 

Pharaoh likely paced back and forth in his palace, waiting for the report from his officials. Hoping that they would bring a reason for him to declare that the hand of God had not done this. His investigation brought definitive proof of divine orchestration. 

God doesn’t leave loose ends, or overlook details that bring his actions into question. We know this and yet when we find ourselves waiting for God to come through with healing, direction, or to fulfill his word to us, we wring our hands, and bite our nails, until the answer arrives. 

Although God often chooses a timeline that leaves us hanging on to the edge of our seat, we can count on the completion of all his promises. 

We might know better without doing better.

Even when confronted with the results of his own investigation, the Egyptians incurred substantial losses and the Israelites lost not one single animal, Pharaoh refused to bend. 

The previous plagues had been annoying and rather nasty. The fish in the Nile had died, frogs, gnats and flies had invaded the land in numerous hordes. Now his people were facing substantial losses. Pharaoh knew how to stop it all but he dug in his heels, crossed his arms and said, “No!”  

Most of the time we are quick to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. But even mature believers can find themselves resisting that still small voice when we don’t like the direction we are receiving. We might question God’s timing, his direction, and dare I say his “fairness”.  We can pull against his hand, protest his plot twist, question his choice of some of the characters he writes into our script. 

We might even choose to play a dangerous version of the childhood past-time, “He loves me, he loves me not”. Picking flower after flower until we reach our preferred outcome.

In these times we need an undeviating warning shot:

Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the one who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! Hebrews 12:25

God may ask us to complete difficult things. Those closest to him often endure hardship. We often assume suffering is a sign of God’s disapproval or indifference. That is not how the apostles viewed it:

The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. Acts 5:41

Our threshold for declaring ourselves to be suffering is often pretty low. Our ability to rejoice during those times is likely even lower. “Woe is me” is often our cry as we fail to see our struggle as an opportunity to bring glory to the name of Jesus.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this season may we stubbornly cling to that which glorifies God and quickly relinquish our claim to anything that does not. 

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. John 3:30