Why Do I Go Through This
Do you know who the Lord is? Has He revealed Himself to you? Have you seen Him work in your life? You have to know that the God of this universe, the Creator of all things cares about you; but not just you. He has a plan for you that sometimes you can’t understand. And we ask the question sometimes, why do I have to go through this? Know that it is for His glory and for your benefit that you go through trials. At the same time there is another reason.
Exodus 7:5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
Exodus 7:17 'Thus says the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood.
Exodus 10:2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the LORD."
Exodus 14:4 Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." And they did so.
Exodus 14:18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen
There is a common theme in these passages. Israel, God’s chosen people, are in bondage. And their captors are a pagan, polytheistic nation. God allowed Israel to taste the bitterness of chains and injustice for over 400 years. In the middle of the bondage Israel was still looking for the promised deliverer that would set them free from their chains. On the surface it seemed the many gods of the Egyptians had power to contain the people of the One True Living God. But we know how the story ended.
The Lord God began to work wonders in the sight of the Egyptians in the form of 10 plagues. If you take time to really dig into the culture and history of the Egyptians, you will see these plagues were not random. But rather, each plague was a specific, strategic attack on a particular Egyptian God. When the water was turned to blood Hapi the god of the Nile, was powerless against the Great I Am! When the frogs came out of the Nile and covered the land Heket, the goddess of fertility was powerless against the Giver of Life! Isis, the Egyptian goddess of medicine, could not heal the boils and sore released by the power of the Jehovah Rapha the Healer! Ra, the Egyptian sun god, could not undo the darkness released over the land by the Lord my Shepherd! Each time the Pharaoh had to ask Moses to entreat our God to relent.
In all this we have to see the common theme: “so the Egyptians will know I AM THE LORD”. Sometimes we go through things, as children of the Most High God, so others will come to know Him. For 430 years Israel went through a trial that gave glory to God, benefited them, and put their enemies in a position to repent. Pharaoh asked the question, “who is this God that I should obey His voice”. And God gave Him 10 distinct answers. All in the sight of the Egyptians and the Israelites. Sometimes we go through things so that your enemies will see that He is God!
Me: God why do I have to go through this?
God: I AM THE LORD
