Exodus 7-8 – Nasty Days in Egypt

God sends Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh to show signs that they are from God. Pharaoh has his magicians/sorcerers do the same and hardens his heart.

If you’re looking/trying to find ways to NOT believe God, you’ll probably find them. They even replicate the Nile turning to blood, but they can’t create gnats from dust – even they recognize “this is the finger of God.”

Pharaoh starts to relent and let them sacrifice, but w/in the land. Nope. Then he says “don’t go far.” But as soon as the trial is gone, the hardens his heart again.

This will be a pattern we’ll see throughout the plagues… and in our lives. We often have trouble, turn to God, He takes care of it and we forget it happened and why we needed Him so badly.

Trials produce perseverance and faith… and when they don’t, we probably just get the same again. What happens if you pass a hard test or graduate from a given grade in school? You don’t then ‘arrive’ and stop. You go on to the next one… which is harder. But hopefully you’ve learned how to handle them: trust, work, wait, practice, study, etc.

What do you see when you get to the top of the hill you just climbed? Another hill… a bigger hill… a mountain.

Don’t harden your heart – trust Him. Don’t look for ways not to believe.