I just passed another mile marker on my journey through the Bible. Here are some highlights and thoughts from my time in Exodus:

  • It’s encouraging to me to learn there were times when the Israelites, while in their slavery, were only able to groan and cry for help, and God listened to their groanings and responded. I don’t think God needs perfect prayers.
  • God knows our pain.
  • Can’t tell you how many times I’ve responded like Moses and said, "Why me?" and then needed to hear God say, "I’ll be with you."
  • Moses prayed. God did what Moses asked. I should pray more.
  • It’s interesting that Pharaoh ignored God’s plan. He became stubborn. He wouldn’t listen. And then his heart turned rock-hard. Where are the hard places in my heart?
  • God did something incredible, then the people took time to worship him. "God is my strength, God is my song, and, yes! God is my salvation. This is the kind of God I have and I’m telling the world!"
  • When the Israelites left their slavery and experienced freedom, they started complaining to God. God still listened and responded to their complaints. I’m guessing he didn’t like their complaining, but he still loved them. Dads do that.
  • "God said to Moses, ‘Go on out ahead of the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel.’" There’s a leadership lesson. Leaders should go out ahead of the people they’re leading. We need to ask ourselves: How are we disciplining our lives to be in a place to which we can lead others?
  • I love the picture of ministry teamwork that God offered when he instructed Aaron and Hur to hold up Moses’s arms.
  • Jethro was the best kind of in-law. He warned Moses about the potential for burn out. "This is way too much for you–you can’t do this alone." Jethro encouraged Moses to identify and empower new leaders to share the load. Leaders need other leaders.
  • Do you think there’s a reason God listed "No other gods, only me" as the first of the ten commandments?
  • We may no longer live under the law as Christ-followers (grace is a good thing), but I think the ten commandments still reflect what God values in our relationships with him and with others.
  • "As God had commanded." That phrase was repeated over and over and over again. Moses was obedient to God’s plan. "Moses did everything God commanded. He did it all." Where am I holding back from God’s plan?
  • It’s interesting that God gave so many details for the construction of the tabernacle, its contents and the clothing that the priests were to wear. Then, he asked that skilled craftsmen, those gifted in these areas, would complete the work. I could be wrong, but that sounds an awful lot like a strategic plan–a simply strategic plan.