TCN's Biblical Journey Jan 16th

This is taken from today's reading of Exodus 6-10.

Exodus 8 

Have you ever noticed that the sinner and the saint seem to face the same problems? Sickness, old age, poverty, prejudice, and everything from the flu to cancer.  What is the benefit of serving God if the same thing happens to everyone? 

 The reverse question was asked by Satan about Job, "Does Job serve God for nothing?" We will look at that later but the question does remain what is the benefit of serving God. 

When we look into the New Testament, Jesus talks about the rewards that come by following him, but in the middle of it, he also talks about the dangers and trials. So what is the deal, and more importantly for our reading plan what does this have to do with Exodus chapter 8?

The answer to that is found in verse 22-23. Before these verses, the same plagues that fell on Egypt also fell on the children of Israel (kinda like most of our lives). However, in verse 22-23  God says things are going to change, “But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land. “I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.”’

There comes a time when the differences between the saint and the sinner become clear. There is a time when all the trials, pain, and plagues stop for the Christian, when God says, No more. I believe these times come more often then we realize because the separation isn't as clear as it was in the days of the Exodus. One day we will see them clearly, in heaven, but sometimes we can see them now if we are willing to look. 

Sometimes we don't recognize the difference because our focus is all on the wrong things. We miss the peace in the lives of believers because we don't see wealth. We see the frailty but not the support that others seem to lack or the peace of mine. 

There is coming a time when it will all be clear, but just because we don't see it now doesn't mean there isn't a difference. There is and as we remember the life of Joseph, we know that sometimes there is a lot of suffering before the reward, but God will work it together for good (Romans 8:28)