Reflecting

Our good friends Jesse and Rhonda are in town. They are adopting a little baby girl who's birth mom is going to be induced on Wednesday. Thier little daughter Shelby is Asher's good friend, who he likes to call his princess or his bride. They got to play on Tuesday and Asher asked Shelby to dance.

Poor Uriah got jealous, so he cut in.

Then they realized they were only 2 and 3 years old and didn't have to be exclusive.

The weather warmed up a bit and they were playing thier version of baseball with Shelby shouting from the playhouse, "Good swing Asher." Asher responds, "Thanks Shelb, thanks beautiful."

Then today we got to go to the zoo with them. When Asher and Shelby spotted each other they started running toward each other with arms wide. Uriah didn't want to miss out, so he started running toward Shelby too for a big hug. But I guess it's an advanced move to slow yourself down before hugging and Shelby and Uriah slammed into each other.

Shelby gazing intently on embracing Asher was blindsided.

Sometimes opposition or hard, unexpected trials in life can blindside us. Exodus chapter 1 starts out, "Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were excedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 'Look,; he said to his people, 'the Israelites have become far too mumerous for us. Come, we must dal shrewdly with them..." (1:6-10)

Doesn't it seem that after great successes opposition comes. But wait... it seems it comes before significant growth too. I guess we can always count on hardship and opposition coming our way. Jesus promises, "In this world you will have trouble, but take courage I have overcome the world." (Jn 16:33) The building and shifting doesn't feel good a lot of times but it prepares the way for the Lord.

How interesting that the actual forced labor the Israelites did was building and shifting. Could it be that they were a visual for us of preparing the way of the Lord? It was because of their hard situation that God ended up coming through for them big time, bringing the plagues and forcing Pharoah's hand to thier freedom.

The point? As always, God's glory. God's charater being revealed. "And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I strethch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it." Exo 7:5 

Their suffering was preparing the way for the Lord. Preparing the way for God to show Himself to more people. So it doesn't surprise me when Isa. 40:3-4 "A voice of one calling; 'In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway fo our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountian and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain." comes right before verse 5, "And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together."

Through opposition and hard things, God is preparing the way to reveal Himself in pretty awesome ways. Lets not be blindsided.