Have you ever had the very people that give you trouble ask for your help in their time of need?
I’ve seen this at work in my own life. Throughout my career, I’ve had to deal with difficult people who seemed to dislike me without even giving me a chance. For whatever reason, I could not do right by them no matter how hard I tried. But I saw those same people drawn to me, asking for my help and even my advice in their own personal lives. I believe that it’s because they can see that there is something different about me.
We see a similar situation in the book of Exodus in the Bible.
The people of Israel found themselves enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years. God heard their cries and sent Moses to help lead them out of Egypt.
But God wanted to put his glory on display so that both Israel and Egypt would know that it was only God that delivered them.
He chose Moses, an unlikely Hebrew with a speech impediment, to stand before Pharaoh and boldly ask to let the people of Israel go. Although Moses initially resisted, He reluctantly agreed to go.
As we know the story, Moses tells Pharaoh if you don’t let us go, God will bring plagues upon the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh was unyielding, and one by one, God sent devastating plagues over Egypt.
Eventually after the final most terrifying plague, death to all the firstborn sons in Egypt, Pharaoh agreed to let them go.
But then something interesting happens.
Pharaoh orders them to leave, along with their families, their flocks, and their herds. But then he says “Go, but bless me as you leave” (Exodus 12:32)
Pharah understood something at that moment. He saw that these people had the favor of God over them. Through the plagues, he saw God’s power and might on display and he recognized that God was with the children of Israel. And even though Pharaoh didn’t worship or serve the God of Israel, he wanted what they had.
Our lives can be the same reflection of God’s glory to a hurting and broken world.
My prayer is that I am willing to let the world see God at work in me, and in turn those who don’t know Him will come to know Him in a real and personal way.
~ Vijoy
