Bibledoorajar: Not Forever

     "He is merciful and tender toward those who don't deserve it; He is slow to get angry and full of kindness and love. He never bears a grudge, nor remains angry forever."
                                                     Psalm 103: 8-9

      Not forever. When in the mix of difficult situations in which the enemy seems to be winning, it is a good thing to remember that God will not stay angry forever. He will, in His own time, take steps to route the enemy. In this story, the abuse of God's people had been going on at least 80 years. But the time was coming when the efforts of God against the enemy would pay off for His people. This would happen at a time when things could not look worse. But not forever. Judgement does come to the land of Pharoah. It will come against a hardened heart and it will come in the form of plagues--ten of them. Each plague would show forth the deep realities of the God of the Universe. No matter the talk among the Egyptians of this god and that god, of this Pharoah and that Pharoah, this unit of plagues, bitter though they be, would free the Israelites. The Hand of God would bring finality to slavery in progressively more difficult ways. Watch the enemy bend and sway. Will he ultimately fall?
     Of course, this all makes us think of God's final judgement on the world and its' god. When the hand of God declares that time shall be no longer the Book tells us that seals--seven of them, will be broken upon the earth, each progressively more difficult. The enemy will bend and sway, but UL-
TIMATELY Jesus Christ will return and finish the final solution.
     Take heart today. No matter how the enemy is assaulting  you, you can place him on a timeline of judgement and speak to him as Moses spoke. This is what Martin Luther said to him one time when he was being assaulted: "Oh, it just you, you old fart." Minimize him; exalt the Christ. Seek freedom.