I was recently reading the familiar story of how Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. After nine life altering plagues Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. He refused to acknowledge and submit to the one and only true God. To get his attention the Lord sent the tenth and most devastating plague of all. He was going to take the firstborn of every family as well as all firstborn animals. The Lord said, “About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill…” Because God is perfectly just and holy, he had to deal with deliberate disobedience.

But God is also a God of mercy and compassion. Even though the death sentence was on both Egyptians and Israelites, He made a way of escape possible. The Lord told them to do two things. First, they were to slaughter a one year old, unblemished lamb and place its blood on the top and sides of the door frame. Secondly, they were to stay inside the house until morning. When the death angel came he would pass over, sparing the firstborn – whether Israelite or Egyptian. The blood on the doors was outward evidence that the inhabitants of that house trusted God, believing what He said was true.

Can you imagine what would have happened if someone had said, “I am not going to kill my best lamb, I will kill one of my old, crippled ones”? Or if one of the Israelites had said, “After we all kill our lamb, and sprinkle the door posts, let’s meet in the middle of village for a big party, celebrating our pending release from the evil dictator Pharaoh.” Would God withhold judgment and simply passed over? I think not. They may have done it with the best of intentions, but they would not be following God’s instructions. They would be doing their own thing – just like Cain. Partial obedience is not obedience at all.

On the other hand, what if one of the Egyptian taskmasters over heard the Israelites talking about God’s coming judgment of every firstborn? He realized his gods were false and as he suffered through the nine previous plagues he realized that the Israelites’ God was the only true God. And then that same Egyptian, putting his faith solely in God, followed the instructions for the Passover. Would God pass over his house that night? Yes, because he believed the Lord, and he was coming to God in God’s way!

Isn’t that really what the Christian life is all about, “Coming to God in God’s way?” This story reminds me that there is no substitute for complete obedience – even in the little things. We lose our perspective when we do things our way, in our time, on our terms. I think my biggest struggle in life is not waiting on God. Since my flesh pattern is a “doer”, I am constantly running ahead of God, trying to make things happen, or attempting to fix a person or a situation. Looking back, I wonder how many of my past crisis was really self-induced because I got ahead of God, and did things my way, rather than waiting patiently on Him.

One of God’s names is Jehovah Jireh, meaning “The Lord will provide.” God’s provision is for our taking – if we are willing to trust Him.

May we all determine to rest in the sufficiency of Christ in all things – knowing that God’s way is always best and that our God will provide.