You may remember that when God's people were slaves in Egypt, He had quite an elaborate plan to free them. It consisted of repeatedly insisting, through Moses, that Egypt let His people go and when their hearts remained hard, performing miraculous signs and wonders (read: plagues) to let the Egyptian people know that He meant business.
But the signs were not just for Egypt.
The people of Israel, caught in slavery, trapped in a foreign land, needed to know that God was for real just as much as Egypt did. The people of God, who probably didn't believe much after 400 years of slavery that God still cared about them, let alone that He was still with them, needed to know how near God was...and how willing to use His power for their good. The people for whom the Promised Land was but a distant echo of a long-ago whisper needed to see God just as much as the people who didn't believe in Him at all and weren't inclined to go along with His plan.
Egypt scoffed at the plan; the Israelites struggled to believe it was still the plan at all.
If you need proof of how much Israel needed to see these things, it's right there in Deuteronomy. When Moses is giving his final speech in front of the people and reminding them of everywhere they've been and everything they've been through, he starts not with the parting of the Red Sea, but with the plagues that came upon Egypt. Plagues, we must also remember, that did not come upon Goshen, where the people of Israel were living in captivity.
We often think that because we are the people of God, He doesn't do signs and wonders for us any more. Why would He have to? We already believe. We already know the story, know the truth, know the love. We already know the Cross and the manger and the incredible story of God walking the dusty streets of Jerusalem for us. We already know what it means to be His people, what it requires of us and what it adds to our lives. We already know God can turn water into blood...or even wine. Why would He need to show us?
He shows us because we need reminding sometimes. Because we need to see it just as much as the world does. Because when we're looking around, we need more than just to know that God will fight for us; we need to see Him do it. We need to see Him act in His mighty power and incredible grace at the same time. We need to see His favor poured out on our lives in a real, tangible way. We need to see Him draw lines between Egypt and Goshen. We need to see all of this.
Thankfully, He shows us.
What if that thing God is doing in your life right now isn't just to show the world who He is? What if it's also to remind you of everything you thought you already knew?
No comments:
Post a Comment