Setting the Stage

Then the Lord told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”

And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.  And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners.  You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.  Exodus 7:1-5


When Grey’s Anatomy first came on, I was always fascinated by how each show would seemingly end flawlessly.  It did not always end with people being happy or everyone being safe.  The beauty was never in the ending.  It was always in how the stage was set for it.  The storyline would be told well, and you had a level of certainty where it would build to this final crescendo.  Then far too often, you found yourself saying, “Wow!  I did not see that coming!”  However, it wasn’t the kind of ‘that’s impossible’ type incredulity.  It was the ‘what an amazing finish’ type feel you had.  Sometimes you laughed, and other times you cried.  But you bought in every single week because the story was built up so well, it became entirely credible.


This brings me to the storyline God builds in our lives.  We often feel like we are fighting to just stay afloat.  We know God has a reason for us doing something, but we do not see the fruits of our labor right away.  If you are like me in my younger days, you might have given up saying, “God?  I’m just tired.  I can’t do it your way anymore.  I will do it my way now.”  Then, something changes.  God reveals Himself when you almost can’t bear to do what He asks of you anymore.  Or perhaps, you make that one final time saying to God, “Ok.  I will try one more time,” and then that makes the difference from a setback to a comeback.


When you are going through hardship, remember these are the moments God is setting you up for your greatest triumphs.  We have moved forward in the story of Moses where he and Joshua have given to Pharaoh the message to either free the Israelites or suffer from the wrath of God.  Pharaoh, with his heart hardened, chose to instead make the Israelites suffer more by making their building of bricks exponentially more difficult while expecting the same amount of work.  The beatings and agony were such that now the Israelites and even Moses were beginning to wonder if God would stay true to His word.  In the prior verses, Moses said, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me?  Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!” (Exodus 5:22b-23)  As we read further, we realize God had not forgotten His people at all.  Of course, He would never do that.  However, how often are we the Israelites getting beaten down mentally and physically and we speak with the frustration of Moses?  Don’t we sound a bit like he did?  But I digress.  God had set the stage for His greatest glory to be revealed to all so that not only His people would know who He is but also the Egyptians who had no reason to believe in Him.  This is who God has always been.  He will put us through hardship only to reveal Himself to us as the great and everlasting God.  King of kings, and Lord of lords.



There is no burden too great that our God cannot handle.  Peter once was fishing after Jesus’ resurrection.  Jesus simply told him to cast his net on a certain side, and he went from a no—luck fisherman to one who couldn’t even bring in the net (see John 21:4-6)  Just as Peter once couldn’t catch a fish, Moses couldn’t catch a break!  But God was setting the stage for Moses’ greatest triumphs to come, and perhaps, now is the time in your life where you need to keep believing in that which God placed on your heart, mind, and soul.  Let us continue to move forward trusting God is making the pathway to victory for us.  What doubts are on your mind today?  How can you fight a little more trusting God is still with you?  My prayer is that we look beyond our circumstance and realize that God is ‘setting the stage’ for us.  Amen.

The Good And The Bad Of Thanksgiving

Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.  And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 5:19-20

Just a little over seventeen years ago, I received a phone call letting me know that I would be offered a job to work at my current employer.  As I looked back, I remembered my excitement getting the job offer.  Thoughts about the jobs I had before never quite being happy in any of them swirled in my head.  Each one of them prepared me in their own way for that moment.  Even the ones that I did not enjoy had a level of relevancy because they would become reminders of just how good I would now have it.  Thus I was thankful for all that had happened prior to that day.

When looking back at our journey of faith, we are to be thankful for all that happened to bring us closer to God today.  We are thankful of the blessings He has given us like our jobs and homes.  We are to be thankful for the people He brought into our lives to influence and be influenced by us.  We are thankful for the many victories He has given us in His name.  And yet, we are to be thankful for the many trials and losses we have had.  They have tested our faith and taught us lessons that would be useful for future success.  We are also to be thankful for the failures that we had for they proved our imperfections and reminded us how we are not God despite our knowing who He is.  They awakened the Holy Spirit within us saying something is not right.  They became the inspiration for us to do better, and once learned, became testimonies to those who once believed they could never make it.  You see?  Once we become a child of God, we are no longer bound by sin.  However like all children, we must grow and build a better relationship with God from it.  That is something we can be eternally thankful for.

God is good whether we are or are not.  When things are good, it is very easy to love God.  However our love is never fully appreciated when it is easy.  It is when the most trying of circumstances challenge our love is tested.  In spite of our greatest sins, God loved on us showing His mercy and grace.  For that most of all, we should be infinitely thankful.  What problem in your life can you give thanks to God for?  How can you show an attitude of gratitude for God in all circumstances?  My prayer is that we simply show thanks to God for everything; both good and bad.  Amen, and I pray for you and your family a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Thurs Devo: Venomous Snakes

After mourning Aaron’s death and a victorious deliverance from the Canaanites in Arad (Numbers 21:1-3), the Israelites continued their travels. However, they still haven't learned their lesson about complaining.

Numbers 21:4-7  ⁴ They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; ⁵ they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

⁶ Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

The Israelites seem to always be focusing on the negative and not the positive. They didn’t have bread but they did have manna. They were traveling in the wilderness desert that didn’t have much water, but God always provided water for them in miraculous ways. And, I’m guessing God had been protecting them from all the wild desert animals, up until this point! 

Like the Israelites, we don’t see all the ways God provides for us and protects us. Plus, we tend to focus on what we think we lack. We even get upset with God and/or others when things don’t go our way. However, when tragedy strikes, we often do go to God, because we know He’s the only one that can do the impossible.

The Israelites did acknowledge their sin and did turn to God. You and I can do the same. And the next time you and I want to complain about a hardship or get upset with God over it, let’s stop and count 5 other blessings God has provided. As hard as our situation might be, it could always be worse (like venomous snakes)!

Alice