When Frogs Fill the House
Scripture
Exodus 8:1-2 · · ESV
If things are not going as planned, I usually start trying to fix them. I make lists. I think through possibilities. I plan ahead, and then sometimes plan some more.
I suppose somewhere in my thinking is the idea that if things go even half as well as I planned, the result should still be decent.
And I do not like it when plans change. But then something unexpected happens, and I am quickly reminded of a truth I seem to forget.
I was never really in control.
The Egyptians learned that lesson in a much more dramatic way.
Pharaoh ruled one of the most powerful nations in the world. Egypt had wealth, armies, magnificent cities, and many gods. Pharaoh refused to release the Israelites who had been enslaved in Egypt.
Then came the frogs. Not a few frogs hopping beside the Nile.
Frogs everywhere.
I imagine them on the floor, sitting on shelves, perhaps even jumping out when someone opens a cupboard. Exodus says they entered houses, bedrooms, beds, ovens, and kneading bowls.
There was no escaping them.
Something so small had become completely beyond Pharaoh’s control.
Egypt may have believed Pharaoh was in charge. Pharaoh may have believed it too.
But God was showing them otherwise.
Again and again using the plagues, God demonstrated His power and made one truth unmistakable:
He is the Lord.
I can read about Pharaoh and easily see his desire for control. But I don’t always recognize my own attempt at control. Mine does not look like Pharaoh’s. Sometimes it looks like a full calendar and several lists. Sometimes it looks like staying busy because slowing down would mean admitting I do not know how everything is going to turn out. Sometimes it looks like trying to fix things for everyone around me.
Helping people is good.
Planning is good.
But being useful is not the same as being in control.
Only God is.
I need to remember that when things don’t go just the way I expected them to.
I do not need to hold everything together.
I cannot.
But God can.
So instead of trying to make everything go according to plan, what I should be doing is trusting God. He is in control.
Prayer
Amelia