I was reading the Exodus story of how the Egyptians were increasingly frustrated by the Hebrews. The descendants of Joseph and his brothers had expanded and multiplied greatly in numbers and the pharaohs had forgotten all the good things that Joseph had done to save Egypt during famine. The Egyptians feared that the Hebrews would ultimately join the enemies of Egypt and overthrow the leadership so they decided to enslave the Hebrews, to put their lives under tremendous control and to break their backs and their wills under slave labor. But it didn't work out the way the Egyptians expected. Instead of diminishing, the Hebrews increased: Exodus 1:11-12 " So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread;" Then the Egyptians ordered all the male babies to be killed, something like the genocide we still hear about today in dark areas of the world. However, that plan backfired when one of those male babies was spared and raised ironically within Pharaoh's household. Of course Moses grew up to become the ultimate solution to deliver the Hebrews. The thought today is that all of us will face oppression and discouragement. There will be times when we do not understand why we are encountering great difficulty. We need to remember that we belong to the God who is above every power. He does know our situations and He does hear our cries. Most wonderful of all, he cannot be constrained by any evil plan. In fact He will stand the plans of evil on their head and cause good to come from bad intentions. Ultimately, God's plan will always succeed!
The brilliance of the sun lies behind the darkest storm cloud.
blessings,
Rob Smith
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