Sweet, Significant thoughts

Pressing on through Exodus! We are almost through Chapter 9 this morning! Now obviously, I have not been writing out each and every thought on everything I've read.....we'd still be in Chapter 2 if I did that!!

But oh ya'll........I read something today, that just brought a warmth of sunshine ALL over me. After reading about all these nasty plagues and the horrible things that they did and how stubborn Pharaoh STILL was, makes my head spin, but anyway, I read this SWEET verse and just knew you'd want to read it too!! As I get through to verse 27, FINALLY Pharaoh is like, "Ok, your God, He's not messing around." He's starting to soften up......but hang on, he's not through this yet! But there was something so significant found in verse 29 after Pharaoh says to Moses, "I think I'm done. I will let your people go...."

Exodus 9:29 Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail so you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God."

There were three things that just popped out at me.

1. Moses definitely sees the power of God in Him working. He is VERY confident in what he says to Pharaoh. There was none of this "Maybe" "possibly" or "could be".......He was like, "LOOK.....this is what is going to happen!" So I see that Moses suddenly, has a great sense of confidence like never before!

2. "I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord." I could just stop right there! As I've been looking at different "prayer positions"...this is my favorite one!! One of my footnotes said this, "Statues of men praying with hands upraised have been found by archaeologists at several ancient sites in the Middle East." Moses is up off his face! He is standing before God with arms WIDE OPEN!! If you've never experienced prayer like this, it's very hard to put into words, but there is something so precious about being able to stand before God with arms wide open. I've said it before, almost daily, I'm flat on my face before God, confessing my sins, but this type of prayer is almost like a worshipful prayer. Love it!!! And I LOVE picturing Moses doing this!! What a sight in God's eyes that must have been!!

3. Even still..........Even still, Moses says in V30 "But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God." Even still.......Moses obeyed!! He KNEW that Pharaoh's heart was "not there" yet, and He still walked on in obedience. He didn't say, "Lord, this is never going to happen. This man's heart is to hard." He just KNEW that the time was coming, and obedience was Moses' calling. Not to change Pharaoh, but to Obey God!!! I don't know about you, but it makes me want to SHOUT IT OUT, that Moses has done a complete 180!! But what was so significant.....this didn't come from some "a ha" moment! It came from baby steps of obedience, scary steps.......steps that Moses was like, "Uh.....Lord, I don't know about this." But even still, he took those steps and one by one, he has developed into an amazing obedient servant!!

I'm so proud of Moses! I'm sure there will be things to come that I will read that will make me go "Uh oh." But, for today, I'm rejoicing for his sweet obedience!! It's inspiring! It's walking through the darkness, headed towards the light! Not knowing how it's going to happen, but that it will!

Well, I'm off to spread out my arms in some good prayer! This has been so great to my soul today!! Like fresh water! And I needed it!!! Have a blessed, standing on the rock day!!