Exodus 10:13-14 So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again.
Humans don’t like to be in pain. Heck, humans don’t even like to be inconvenienced. And the devastation of the locusts went far beyond inconvenience, so Pharaoh did what he had to do to make it stop–admitted his sin and asked Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord to take the plague away. This is the epitome of lip service.
Exodus 10:15 They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
But God knows our hearts. Always. He knows when we are sincere about the need to change. He knows when we are just paying lip service to make the pain stop. And here’s what really strikes me: He knows that we can be insincere, fickle, messy lumps, and He loves us anyway. Deeply. Fiercely. Completely. Even in our mess. Even in our chaos. Even in our pain.
Exodus 10:16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.
Precious Savior, Forgive me when I pay lip service to You without being sincere. Thank You for knowing my fickle heart and loving me–deeply, fiercely, completely–anyway. Help me to draw closer to You. Always. Amen.
Exodus 10:17 Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”
Have a blessed day.