Our broken promises

Then Moses and Aaron left the king, and Moses prayed to the LORD to take away the frogs which he had brought on the king. The LORD did as Moses asked, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the surrounding countryside died. The Egyptians piled them up in great heaps until the land stank with them. When the king saw that the frogs were dead, he became stubborn again and, just as the LORD had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron. (verses 12-15)

Read Exodus 7:25 – 8:19

At first the Egyptians wouldn’t have been too worried by the frogs; after all, frogs were seen as the servants of the goddess of childbirth. But when the numbers kept multiplying, became too great and were too much of a nuisance, the king begged for relief. He even promised to do what Moses asked for.

God had previously polluted the sacred river. Now he had shown he had power over frogs, power that a goddess (whose servants the frogs were) did not have. But willingness to obey God only lasted as long as the problem did. Once it was gone, Pharaoh again refused to let the people go.

Human beings are like that. In times of crisis we often tum to God, usually as a last resort. People who haven’t prayed for years, if at all, scream out to God when things get too much for them. Perhaps you’ve been like me and have promised all sort of things to God if he will only take the pain, or the pressure, away. Then, when the problem has gone, like Pharaoh I tend to forget what I’d promised to do.

How patient with us God really is!

Father, forgive me for the times I take you for granted or use you as a last resort. Help me to trust you and rely on you completely. Amen.

by Robert Turnbull, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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