Saturday, September 24, 2022

It’s Just Not a Good Idea to Mess with God

 


When it comes to taking on God toe to toe, not too many people rank ahead of the Pharaoh of Egypt during the time of Moses, about 1500 BC. Sure, he was the typical tyrannical ruler who did as he pleased to whomever he pleased, but what makes him stand out is he went 10 rounds with God, and he still didn’t give up on the idea that he could beat God at his own game. 

The account of God freeing the Israelite nation from slavery in Egypt, commonly called “The Exodus”, is a narrative full of drama and the supernatural. But above all, it is the timeless story of a human being telling God he is not needed. If anyone could say they visibly, tangibly experienced God acting in their lives, it had to be Pharaoh. From one predicted natural disaster to the next, Pharaoh would begin to soften towards God’s sovereign rule of his life, only to shut the Almighty down when life returned to a certain degree of normalcy.   

How different are people today? Not much! As long as life is good, we feel no need for God. When troubles come, we get mad at him for letting us suffer. We may begin to open to the idea that maybe we really do need him, but then the pain is relieved, and we go back to calling the shots of our lives. It’s like the guy who claimed that the proof God doesn’t exist or do anything in our lives is that you can curse and swear at him, call God joke and a fool, and not have anything happen. The same man who said that died of cancer a year after making those remarks. 

It shouldn’t take lightening bolts to get us to think seriously about messing with God. The absolutely consistent statistic that every human being who is born will die within 120 years at the most should get us to think more seriously about his role in our lives. Whether you are a religious person or not, the word “death” brings to mind some kind of judgment for if nothingness is the end result of physical death, all our hopes and dreams of having a purposeful, important life end. It just doesn’t make sense that life begins by chance, becomes meaningful while we are alive and then ends in oblivion when we die. The God hypothesis is much more likely. 

Join us for one of our worship services. Instead of messing with God like Pharaoh, receive the incredible invitation to join his family through Jesus Christ. 

Weekend worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm – Sunday: 10:00 am 


Hawaii Lutheran Church (WELS)

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Honolulu, HI
Community Lutheran Church holds protestant chapel services in Honolulu, Hawaii near Pearl Harbor, HI. We are next to the USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hickam Air Force Base, and Fort Shafter Hawaii. Look for us directly behind the Salt Lake, Hawaii, Target.