(The Recap)
"The Lord asked him, what is that in your hand? A staff, he replied. Throw it on the ground. He threw it on the ground and it became a snake.." Exodus 4:3
The snake symbolized pharaoh's authority and God was showing pharaoh that he has no power. Instead, He's showing that God has all the power through turning Moses' staff to a snake. God gave that staff to Moses and He gave it to show others his authority in his calling. From that staff and through Moses' called authority, God equipped him with the provisions needed to do what had to be done to get the Israelites out of Egypt.
( Now for Part 2 ):
Just as I said before, God will give you the authority and provisions needed to do the things He's called you to do for Him. When Moses got to the Red Sea, there are 2 parts to the story. Moses had his staff and God had to part the sea to make a way. "The Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to break camp. As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it so the Israelites can go though the sea on dry ground." Exodus 14:15-16
Let's just say the Israelites did not trust God. In the verses just before, it says," They said to Moses:' Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What have you done by bringing us out of Egypt?'" Exodus 14:11
How were they so doubtful when God had already done so much for them? Being slaves to Egypt caused them to lose their sense of identity as God's children. It made them so helpless and dependent on Egypt that they couldn't see what God was doing for them. My point is that, despite how prepared or excited you may be for having your first foster child and all God is going to do with them in your home, they may not see what all God will do. Especially, if you take in a kid from a tougher background or experiences. They may be so blind to the great and wonderful things going on around them that they don't even catch it. It took years until my daughter looked back on her first day here with us with gratefulness because she had no clue what she was getting into the first day, week, or months because we were just the next home to her. She also wasn't going to know except with time if we were even good people.
I love how God says, " ...Tell the Israelites to break camp..."(Exodus 14:15) as the Egyptians were about to attack them. They must have been crying in terror while dropping things and tripping over each other while trying to do this task. Then He said to Moses "As for you, lift up your staff.."(Exodus 14:16). He's telling Moses to not let their anger, frustration, or disobedience be the thing that would make him believe less in his calling.
"Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove (back) the sea with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into the dry ground. So the waters divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground and the waters (like) a wall to them on their right and on their left." (Exodus 14:21).
Then, the once fearful, Egypt's slaves saw this: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, on their horseman, and on horsemen." (Exodus 14:26).
God made a way when there was none. Then they watched as their enemy sank and drowned into the sea. Scripture goes on to say," When Israel saw the great power that the Lord used the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed in Him and His servant Moses."(Exodus 14:31)
They may be so mentally torn apart over their situation, but don't let that be the reason you don't tell them to "break camp". Because you know that God is about to do something so good for their lives. "Breaking camp" may be getting them to that Bible study, continuing taking them to therapies, or even simply talking about God around the house even if they seem a bit distraught or not into it. They still need that loving, humble, authority with direction. They also need you to keep the faith despite what you may see.
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