As I read todays Old Testament reading, as well as the past few days, regarding Pharaoh and the plagues a verse kept coming to mind:
"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it." Matthew 16:25
When I read of Pharaoh's continued stubbornness and his constant pleading for the plagues to end and then reneging on his promise to let the Israelites go I see a man desperate to hold onto the empire, the power, the life he lavishes in and loves. He likes to be in control, in power. He likes having a nation of slaves at his mercy. He likes the comforts of his life. When God shows up, through Aaron and Moses, Pharaoh is being told that it is time for a change and he is not a very happy man or willing one at that. He tightens his grip of control on the life he knows. God sends plagues and when they become unbearable Pharaoh tells Moses to pray for them to go away and he will surrender to the Lord's will. But as soon as the discomfort is gone so is the need in his mind to give up control of the life he wants and he digs his heels in deep unwilling to surrender. We see this same scenario play out over and over and over again through all different kinds of plagues. Then we get to today. The telling of the final plague, the greatest cost: life will be lost, not Pharaoh's physical life but close enough. Every first-born male of every household and cattle will die. Like it or not Pharaoh's life as he knows it is about to be completely lost.
It is very easy for me to sit in my kitchen with my cup of tea and read this story and say to myself, "What a fool Pharaoh is. After the first plague I would have packed the bags for the Israelites myself." But the truth of the matter is I too have a tendency toward a stubborn heart. I like to live in the comfort and control of my life (or what I perceive as control). When the storms and trials (plagues) of my life hit I am shaken and uncomfortable. I don't want to go through the difficulties and pains and I pray for the Lord to take them away, to get me out of them quickly. What happens when he does? I can be quick to raise my hands, praise God, and say Thank you. Then I go back to quickly pick up the pieces of control from my life and reassemble them, my surrender was temporary when the need was beyond my control. I can often times be just like Pharaoh and let fear and control prevent me from giving God the complete surrender he calls me to. From letting him work in my life according to his perfect will.
What if Pharaoh had said, "Ok LORD. I know this is going to greatly change not just my way of life but the way of life for my people. I'm scared and I don't like the thought of change and uncertainty but I am going to trust you. I ask you to help me through this process and learn and grow and love the life you have waiting for me." I firmly believe that God would have been there for him through the adjustment and blessed his new life in ways he had never dreamed.
God is constantly calling us to surrender our lives to him, in both the good times and the bad. We need to prayerful ask the Lord to help us trust him in all circumstances with our lives. It isn't always a quick transition but it is always trustworthy when we let God lead our surrendered hearts into new territory.
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