This picture of Israel makes me think of fainting goats. Do you know what I'm talking about? It just so happens that my friend Tim Drane actually raises them. They look like your average goat, but they have a genetic condition called myotonia congenita. When they are startled or scared, their muscles lock up. Their legs stiffen and most of the time the young ones fall over, while the older ones simply spread their legs to support themselves. It only lasts about ten seconds, but of course that’s long enough for an enemy, a coyote or maybe a bear to catch up to them and well, you get the picture.
The people allowed the situation to change their perception of God's strength. They doubted what they knew to be true. They had been eye witnesses! But that's exactly what we are tempted to do in our own lives. We have seen what God is capable of, and yet we’re tempted to think it was a one-time thing. Unfortunately we also share another fatal mistake with the Israelites. Their main concern was their freedom; God's was His glory. See the difference? One is about us. The other is about Him. It never seemed to occur to them that God was going to look great in all of this. Dick Nelson of Fellowship Church NWA puts it this way: "God would make His name great so Israel could make His name known."
What about you? What is it that He is leading you through? Are you more concerned that you survive or that God is glorified? The evidence of God's might in our lives will cause the world to know that He is the Lord. When, we deny that God is mighty, we are telling our friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and anyone else that’s close enough to us, that we really don’t believe God told us the truth about himself when he said he was mighty enough to save us. denying that He alone is the one true God. If His power is not supreme, then another's must be. In the end, we are denying Him and of that I don't want to be guilty.
We of course know the rest of the story, God split the sea and drove the waters to the sides. The Israelites walked through on dry ground and as the Egyptians followed, God gave them a permanent bath. This is where it ends up in verse 31: "Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses." The people, saw, they feared, and they believed. They admitted openly that God is mighty. They finally got it.
The people allowed the situation to change their perception of God's strength. They doubted what they knew to be true. They had been eye witnesses! But that's exactly what we are tempted to do in our own lives. We have seen what God is capable of, and yet we’re tempted to think it was a one-time thing. Unfortunately we also share another fatal mistake with the Israelites. Their main concern was their freedom; God's was His glory. See the difference? One is about us. The other is about Him. It never seemed to occur to them that God was going to look great in all of this. Dick Nelson of Fellowship Church NWA puts it this way: "God would make His name great so Israel could make His name known."
What about you? What is it that He is leading you through? Are you more concerned that you survive or that God is glorified? The evidence of God's might in our lives will cause the world to know that He is the Lord. When, we deny that God is mighty, we are telling our friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and anyone else that’s close enough to us, that we really don’t believe God told us the truth about himself when he said he was mighty enough to save us. denying that He alone is the one true God. If His power is not supreme, then another's must be. In the end, we are denying Him and of that I don't want to be guilty.
We of course know the rest of the story, God split the sea and drove the waters to the sides. The Israelites walked through on dry ground and as the Egyptians followed, God gave them a permanent bath. This is where it ends up in verse 31: "Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses." The people, saw, they feared, and they believed. They admitted openly that God is mighty. They finally got it.
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