Years ago, I have vivid memories of discussing bad things in
our lives with my wife Carri. There was
a time when one bad thing followed another.
Carri was constantly saying things like this, “I can’t relax or stop
worrying. What is going to happen next?”
Something bad would happen, then we would pray and ask God to get us through,
and He would. We would be thankful for a
few days and then quickly go back to our routine of leaving God out of our
daily lives. Before you knew it, another
bad thing would happen. We would go
through the same routine each time. “God
help us through”, God delivered, and we went right back to leaving God out of
our daily lives. Like most people, we
acknowledged God only when we needed Him.
When things were better, how quickly we would forget Him.
Huntington’s Chorea disease is one of those plagues in our
lives. However this time, Huntington’s
is not going away. Huntington’s is a
plague that is here to stay. Carri really struggled with this for a number
of years. “It’s a monster, it will
destroy our family, and nothing good can come from Huntington’s. I hate Huntington’s disease.” Faithfully I would gently reply,
“Huntington’s does not have to be a monster.
Our God is greater.” I believed
what I said, but I also believed in the back of my mind that God was going to
shelter us from this dreaded disease.
After all, we were faithful, so we thought.
Recently I have been reading about the plagues in
Egypt. Like always, I ask myself “What
is God trying to show me? How does this relate to today?” Sometimes there is a
very direct message and other times there is a parallel message. What I mean is this, direct messages are
commands like “Do not murder.” Parallel
messages are things we can relate to because of similarities in our own
lives. These parallel messages give us a
view of what God does and what God wants in similar circumstances. Our God is faithful, merciful, just, and
gracious. By these parallels, we can
anticipate what God can do and how we can embrace His mercy and grace. I hope that makes sense.
The plagues over Egypt are one of those parallels. What we find is God plaguing Pharaoh’s
kingdom in order to reveal that He is LORD.
It is not just the Egyptians that God is reveling Himself to, it is the
Israelites as well.
During the plagues, Pharaoh would acknowledge God and asked
Mosses to intervene. God would remove
the plague and quickly Pharaoh would harden his heart forgetting that God is
LORD. Do you parallel Pharaoh? When the
plagues of life strike, do you call upon God to rescue you? Soon after you have been rescued, does your
heart become hard as evidenced by leaving God out of your daily life?
Does your life parallel Mosses and the Israelites? They
endured the same plagues as Pharaoh, but God sheltered them from the pain and
suffering. Yes I understand the
Israelites were not perfect. They too
forgot God repeatedly throughout history.
I’m just talking about the plagues of Egypt. God sheltered them each time a plague was
brought down upon the land. Faithfully
through His mercy and grace, God delivered the Israelites from their actual
plague, the bondage and slavery in Egypt.
Soon after, they forgot. So, the
cycle repeated itself in the desert.
"God save us", then forget He is LORD.
Now, let me get back to Carri and Huntington’s disease. For a number of years our lives paralleled
that of Pharaoh and the Israelites. We
did not like the plague we were facing and that hardened our hearts to a
certain degree. Through this plague
there have been times when we felt rescued and times when we felt enslaved and
in bondage to its wrath. We finally came
to terms with God on December 19, 2005.
I even wrote about “December 19, 2005” in my blog, you can read it if
you so desire.
Here is the truth that I want to make known about this
plague called Huntington’s disease. God
is our shelter in this storm, and He is our refuge for our weakness. We have truly learned to call upon His name
and surrender it all to Him. We no
longer cry out for relief and then quickly forget Him in our daily lives. Just like the Israelites who weathered the
storms of life, God was faithful to deliver them in spite of their
unfaithfulness. Those who did remain
faithful were able to experience His mercy and grace like never before.
It is through our faithfulness that we are sheltered from
our plague. We will praise Him in this
storm. Just like God said through Mosses
to Pharaoh and His people, “I have allowed these things so that you may know I
am LORD.” We know beyond any doubt that
He is LORD. Tomorrow I will share some
exciting news of how God is using our plague so that others will know “He is
LORD.”
Exodus 6:7
I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD
your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
May my life be the proof and evidence of His love!
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