When my girls were at home, I usually knew when one of them had found a spider somewhere – it came through the high pitch in her scream. She and her sister both have a huge hatred for the eight-legged critters. I would follow the scream to the room where the creature has her cornered and take off my shoe and – WHAP! No more spider. They don’t frighten me. However, put a cricket, grasshopper or frog in my path and my skin crawls! I can’t stand for anything to jump at me!
When I read the story of the plagues of Egypt and see that the first plague that came upon the Egyptians was frogs, my mind pictures the terror I would have experienced if I had been there. Exodus 8:3 says that the river brought forth the frogs abundantly. There weren’t just a few; they were everywhere! The Scriptures goes on to tell us exactly where they were.
- They were in the bedroom – That would mean on the floor, on the dresser, in their clothes, overhead in the light fixtures, on the ceiling fan. There was no comfort.
- They were IN the bed – on top of the bedspread, between the sheets, on their once soft blankets. There was no sleeping!
- They were in the houses of the servants – Every room, every floor space, every cupboard was covered. There were no Egyptians spared.
- They were ON the people – sitting on their heads when they stood, jumping on them when they sat, “boinging” in front of their path when they tried to run away. There was no escaping.
- They were in the oven – They couldn’t even bake their frozen pizza without encountering these slippery amphibians! There was no eating!
- They were in the kneading troughs – The dough that was left rising in the trough turned from raisin bread to froggy bread. There was no baking.
The sad part of the whole story of the plagues is that it all occurred because of the Pharaoh’s unwillingness to obey the Lord. If the man had only done what was right and let the people go, recognizing that he was no contest for the God of the universe, he could have saved himself and all the Egyptians lots of discomfort! Oh, at times he said he would let the people go, but then he would reason to himself why that wouldn’t be good for what he wanted, and he would change his mind. You’d think he’d catch on after a while, wouldn’t you?
But wait a minute…how about you and me? How often do we know what the right thing is that we should do, but we turn a deaf ear and do what we want instead?
For example:
- It might be in the area of tithing. We know we should give to the Lord first and trust Him to care for our needs, but we begin to reason our way out of the right.
- It might be in the area of being committed to our local church in attending regularly and serving the Lord faithfully, but we think of all that would change in our agenda, and we have a change of heart.
- Perhaps someone is in a difficult marriage and the inclination in their heart is to leave, but yet they know the truth of the Word of God says they need to stay married. They know the truth, but they’re weary from it all, and instead of waiting to see God do a miracle, they just want out!
The truth is that God will allow us to choose, just as he allowed Pharaoh to make his choices. However, we need to remember that it will not be without consequences. Let’s call the consequences “frogs in the bed!” When we decide to go our own way, we are in essence saying, “Okay Lord, go ahead and send the frogs!” We want our own way so badly that we’re willing to reap what we have sown.
What a loving God we have that warns us before we make our choices! The Lord sent Moses to tell the Pharaoh what would happen if he didn’t obey, but he stubbornly hardened his heart. The Scriptures warn us of the consequences of our sin, too. It’s our choice to obey, or choose the frogs. Doesn’t seem like too hard a choice, does it? Let’s ask the Lord today to help us to obey Him and enjoy the delight of pleasing Him and bringing glory to His name so there will be no more frogs in the bed!
