February 6, 2025 Why, LORD????
Happy Black History Month!
“Moses returned to the LORD and said, ‘Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me?’” (Exodus 5:22 NIV)
Why, Lord???? (May be a bit lengthy, but I believe it is relevant, especially now, and worth the minute or so it may take to read and consider. 
Some things were as routine and predictable as I grew up on the farm as they were seemingly inexplicable. Roosters always crowed at daybreak. And every day except Sunday when school was out for the summer, my father came into the room where my brother Griffin and I slept and uttered seven words at 6:00 a.m. “Get up boys and catch the mules.” We would quickly roll out of bed, and in the faint light of dawn, make our way to the corral beside the big red barn with bridles in hand to “catch and harness” two mules to either pull the wagon, plows, tobacco slide-trucks, discs, harrows, or some other farm equipment that day. Griffin and I didn’t know why we had to do that every day, but we never protested. If we had, we knew there would be unwanted consequences.
My father had a bigger picture in mind than we could see. The daily grind was hard, but he understood the timeframe for getting things done. Moreover, he was in the fields working alongside us preaching, teaching us the right way to live our lives. Still, we wondered why he pushed us so hard! Why couldn’t we just sleep past 6:00 a.m. one morning? Even when the work was done, he made us get up and “Find something to do.” Why!!!
God sent Moses to Pharaoh with a clear message. “Let my people go!” Release them from bondage. Then, He hardened the heart of Pharaoh so he would NOT let them go! Why order him to release the people and then make sure that he doesn’t? Does that seem odd? Why would God do something that seemed so contradictory?
I could list several seemingly inexplicable things that God has allowed to happen in my life—things that turned out so differently than how I had hoped or expected they would. Hmm, I bet you can too! But God always has a purpose and a plan for what He does. It is never a random happenstance. In the case of Moses, He shared His plan and purpose upfront. He told Moses He would harden Pharaoh’s heart, then added, “Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring … the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD” (Exodus 7:4, 5a NKJV).
The Egyptians had to suffer the consequences of their evil treatment of the Children of Israel, and they had to know that there was only one true and living God. They had a minimum of ten gods and goddesses that they worshipped—and each of the ten plagues targeted and exposed the pseudo-nature of a specific god or goddess. For example, Ra, the sun god, was symbolically deposed when God covered Egypt in darkness so thick it could literally be felt– for three days while allowing light to remain in Goshen where His people lived. God doesn’t always reveal His plan and purpose to us at the outset like He did with Moses. But rest assured, God has a plan and a purpose for everything He allows in your life.
Griffin and I didn’t comprehend what our father was doing, but he knew what needed to be completed before school reopened in the fall. He did not intend for us to have to miss days out of school to work on the farm. He wanted us to do well in school and go on to college. It was our ticket to a better life.
Whatever we are going through now is a part of God’s plan for us. Cry and ask “Why, Lord?” like Moses did if you wish. But after you finish crying, dry your eyes. Then, “Trust in, lean on, be confident in the LORD. And do not rely on your insights” (Proverbs 3:5 AMPC). God has a master plan, and He is working it for our good!
Focus Quote: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
–Isaiah 55:9 NKJV
The new book by Alton E. Sumner,
Standing on the Promises: Defeating Fear and Breaking Barriers
(a devotional anthology) has now been published by Broad Wing Press and will be available shortly!
