“Take
The Frogs Away From Me”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say
to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go,
so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague
of frogs on your whole country. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come
up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your
officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The
frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch
out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make
frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’”
So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of
Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. But the magicians did the
same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of
Egypt.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to
the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your
people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of
setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that
you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in
the Nile.”
“Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you
may know there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs will leave you and
your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”
After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out
to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the Lord did what
Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields.
They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. But when Pharaoh saw
that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and
Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
Exodus
8:1-15
It is amazing how fast things can quickly down grade
and descend into chaos, and then how long it takes to
restore order.
God’s role in bringing order out of chaos is a
prominent biblical theme.
With effort, we can bring order to our living
spaces, but none of us can bring order out of the emotional and spiritual chaos
of our lives. Only God can do that. He restores order to chaotic situations
when we live as God intended – speaking no evil, making peace wherever we can,
and showing humility to all.
When
we put our problems in God’s hands, He puts His peace in our hearts.
Our
Daily Bread – March 26, 2014