Category: Morning Musings

Morning Musing: Exodus 6:11-13

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“‘Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go from his land.’ But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, ‘If they Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?’ Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them commands concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Doubt is scary stuff. It’s especially scary when it comes to the journey of faith. We’re not really sure what to do with doubt when thinking about faith. The two seem like opposites to us. Occasionally we treat them like they are oil and water and in ways that can actually be pretty harmful to people striving for one yet experiencing the other. Moses’ journey was in many ways a study in doubt and faith. We see it twice in this chapter alone. Let’s reflect together on it here and what it may have to do with our own stories.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 6:6-9

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“‘Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’ Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever been presented with a golden opportunity that you passed up because you just didn’t have the energy to take it? There are occasionally times in life when something comes along that looks incredible, but we don’t jump on it for one reason or another. Sometimes those reasons are good and understandable. Sometimes the people around us think we are certifiably insane for passing up on whatever it was. God, through Moses, was making some pretty incredible promises to the people of Israel here. Yet because Pharaoh had so broken their spirits, they wouldn’t believe any of it was really true. Let’s dig in a bit to what is going on here, and talk about staying encouraged when things seem bleak.

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Morning Musing: Romans 3:23

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“For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever been late to the party? Usually when that happens you try to slink stealthily into the back and gradually blend into the conversations that are already happening so your belated appearance isn’t quite so painfully obvious as it could be. Today I’m arriving a little late to the party. I have just a couple of comments on a song that is almost 12 years old, was a smash hit when it was released, and has remained remarkably popular as an anthem for the season we are in. I’m late to the party because, honestly, other than hearing it everywhere, I never paid the long the least bit of attention in its first decade-plus of existence. But a recent performance of it on America’s Got Talent brought it freshly to mind. Let’s talk for just a minute today about Lady Gaga’s quadruple Platinum anthem, Born This Way.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 6:1

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“But the Lord replied to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’m sure I’ve used this illustration before somewhere, but one of my favorite types of magic tricks are the ones when the magician seems to make a mistake or have something go wrong with the trick. The best versions of these have you totally buying into the drama of the moment only to leave you absolutely astounded when they pull off an even more impressive trick than it had looked like they were going to do in the beginning. After Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh makes it look like God’s plans were going to be a total bust, God offers Moses a bit of reassurance. Let’s talk about what’s going on here and what it means for us.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 5:15, 17, 20-22

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“So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: ‘Why are you treating your servants this way?’ . . . But he said, ‘You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, “Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.”‘ . . . When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them, ‘May the Lord take note of you and judge,’ they said to them, ‘because you have made us reek to Pharaoh and his officials – putting a sword in their hand to kill us!’ So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, ‘Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me?'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We like stories that have a happy ending. Just nearly all of our stories do too. In order to get to that happy ending, though, there is often a journey involved. And while sometimes that journey is short and smooth, there are other times when it is anything but that. Sometimes, in the beginning, it looks like there won’t be any journey at all. Instead, it appears that we are simply bound for failure, and everyone around us is worse off for our efforts. Let’s talk today about Pharaoh’s reaction to Moses and Aaron, and when our best efforts just seem to make a mess of things.

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