God will do what it takes in our lives to get our attention.  After Moses listens to God he tells him three times of his stutter, his inability to talk eloquently to other people, especially the command to speak to Pharoah the leader of Egypt!  I love what God commands of Moses next…LOOK AT ME!  Stop looking at who you are and what you do, but look at Me and what I will do through you.  We need this message often, don’t we?  Look up.  Look at God.

It reminds me of childhood. My parents, mom especially used these exact three words to get my attention…LOOK AT ME!  The words were emphasized with volume with a bit of aggravation in her tone.  The body language explained the rest with hands on hips.  She wanted my attention to tell me something very important to her that she thought I needed to hear so I would do exactly what she wanted me to do.  It was clear, she wanted my attention.

God says, “Look at Me” often in his word.  Why?  Because what He says is going to be the best for us.  When we look up the vision of what is around us grows blurry and dim.  We see God for who He is and what He can do—in us, through us and all around us.  When we realize God is in control of all circumstances and situations of this life and the life we will live with Him someday.  We gain strength by knowing He is with us.

The prophet Jeremiah speaks for God later in God’s Word…

“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:13-14

“Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other..”  Isaiah 45:22

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Jesus, God’s Son and spokesman said, “Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  Matthew 6:31-33

“Look up, look at Me, I will give you all you need.” –God, our Father

Genesis 7, The Message

^1-5 God told Moses, “Look at me. I’ll make you as a god to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to speak everything I command you, and your brother Aaron will tell it to Pharaoh. Then he will release the Israelites from his land. At the same time I am going to put Pharaoh’s back up and follow it up by filling Egypt with signs and wonders. Pharaoh is not going to listen to you, but I will have my way against Egypt and bring out my soldiers, my people the Israelites, from Egypt by mighty acts of judgment. The Egyptians will realize that I am God when I step in and take the Israelites out of their country.”

^6-7 Moses and Aaron did exactly what God commanded. Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

* * *

^8-9 Then God spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said, “When Pharaoh speaks to you and says, ‘Prove yourselves. Perform a miracle,’ then tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh: It will turn into a snake.’”

¹⁰ Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what God commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his servants, and it turned into a snake.

^11-12 Pharaoh called in his wise men and sorcerers. The magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their spells: each man threw down his staff and they all turned into snakes. But then Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.

¹³ Yet Pharaoh was as stubborn as ever—he wouldn’t listen to them, just as God had said.

Strike One: Blood

^14-18 God said to Moses: “Pharaoh is a stubborn man. He refuses to release the people. First thing in the morning, go and meet Pharaoh as he goes down to the river. At the shore of the Nile take the staff that turned into a snake and say to him, ‘God, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you with this message, “Release my people so that they can worship me in the wilderness.” So far you haven’t listened. This is how you’ll know that I am God. I am going to take this staff that I’m holding and strike this Nile River water: The water will turn to blood; the fish in the Nile will die; the Nile will stink; and the Egyptians won’t be able to drink the Nile water.’”

¹⁹ God said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and wave it over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water—so that they turn to blood.’ There’ll be blood everywhere in Egypt—even in the pots and pans.”

^20-21 Moses and Aaron did exactly as God commanded them. Aaron raised his staff and hit the water in the Nile with Pharaoh and his servants watching. All the water in the Nile turned into blood. The fish in the Nile died; the Nile stank; and the Egyptians couldn’t drink the Nile water. The blood was everywhere in Egypt.

^22-25 But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their incantations. Still Pharaoh remained stubborn. He wouldn’t listen to them as God had said. He spun around and went home, never giving it a second thought. But all the Egyptians had to dig inland from the river for water because they couldn’t drink the Nile water.

Seven days went by after God had struck the Nile.

The story of God continues…stay tuned!

Lord,

Thank you for your word that teaches, encourages, corrects and gives us hope and life.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!  Yes!