But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth. Exodus 9:16 (NLT)
All throughout the Exodus story, Moses told Pharaoh to let the people, God’s people, go so they could worship him. Pharaoh waffled back and forth between “Yes, Go!” and “No. You can’t go!” It is frustrating to read and I am sure to the people of Israel it was frustrating to live through.
You see, Pharaoh thought he was in control. He actually thought the decision was his. He would decide if and when he was going to let the people go. Don’t we often do this?
We think, especially in our western world mentality, that it’s all about us. Everything that is happening is because of me. Every situation has something to do with what I want or what I need. We forget, like Pharaoh did, that it’s about God.
It’s about what God wants, what God has planned and always, always for his glory.
God says to Pharaoh “I have spared you for a purpose.” Pharaoh toyed with Moses, the people of Israel and God. (I’m not so sure it’s a good thing to toy with God.) God was pretty up front. I could have done away with you but I spared you. I didn’t spare you because you were the best ruler ever to live. I didn’t spare you because you run the largest, most powerful nation. I spared you for my purpose, for my glory.
This text makes me pause. How often do I look at the circumstances around me and focus too narrowly on the outcome? Shouldn’t everything I do be for God’s glory? Do I ask myself enough how what is happening will impact those around me for Jesus? Probably not.
What about you? What circumstance in your life can you handle differently so it points people to Jesus? Are you lining up your life so it is for God’s purpose and God’s glory?