Don't Judge Too Quickly

Tonight in our ladies class, we were studying the second plague in Exodus 8, the frogs. We started at the end of chapter 7 with the information that there was no clean water in Egypt for 7 full days. Chapter 8 begins by saying, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘ Go in to Pharaoh and say to him …” The way the account reads, there is no time between the blood and the frogs.

I did some looking and I could not find definitive information about whether there was a break or not. As one of my Christian sisters pointed out, if God could immediately turn the water into blood, He could immediately turn it back. But there is no indication that the people got a few days’ relief before going from nasty water, to nasty surroundings full of frogs. Talk about trading one problem for another!

Then comes the kicker: When Pharaoh realizes how bad the situation is and asks Moses and Aaron to “plead with the” Lord to remove the frogs (8:8), Moses wants to drive home the point that God is truly the One in control so he asks Pharaoh when to make the plea. And Pharaoh says, “Tomorrow” (8:10).

Tomorrow?!? Does he realize how gross frogs are? And they are everywhere! Why on earth would he say tomorrow? If that man had come home to me and confessed that, he would be wishing it was already tomorrow!

But before we judge poor old Pharaoh too harshly (God will do that for us), maybe we need to look in the mirror. How many times are there things that I know I need to fix in my spiritual life and I think, “I will start that tomorrow.” Maybe it is reading my Bible more faithfully. Maybe it is spending more time with God in prayer. Maybe it is sending more notes of encouragement to Christian brothers or sisters. Whatever the discipline, I often think, “I will do that tomorrow.”

Just as Pharaoh should have said “Now!”, so should I not delay doing what is good in my life. Whether it is getting rid of the filth of frogs or adding practices into my life that bolster my relationship with God and fellow Christians, let me feel the urgency to begin now.

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” James 4:17

AUTHOR: Amber Tatum