Day 8: Foxhole Prayers
Exodus 8
Many people bargain with God when they find themselves in perilous situations. Sometimes this is referred to as foxhole prayers or foxhole conversions. It comes from a saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” The metaphor is a soldier in a foxhole with bullets flying all around his head. In desperation, He pleads with God, perhaps makes promises to God, if only He will spare his life.
The innuendo is that ultimately the person, when out of danger, will forget the promises made to God and will go on living their life as they had before. It’s kind of similar to what we see in Exodus 8 with Pharaoh. God would ultimately bring ten plagues to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. In yesterday’s passage we read about the first plague: the water turning into blood. In today’s chapter we see the second through the fourth plagues: the frogs, gnats and flies.
Imagine how nasty this would have been. Who wouldn’t plead with God to remove the mass infiltration of these creatures. And that’s actually what we see Pharaoh do. In v. 8, after the plague of the frogs, Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
We also see the same thing after the plagues of the gnats and flies in v. 28: “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” But in both cases, once the plagues are removed, Pharaoh changes His mind and refuses to let the people go.
He wants God’s help in the moment, but doesn’t ultimately want to do what God wants. We can be guilty of this, can’t we? We want God to help us with our stuff, or to get us out of a jam, which in many cases we created. In a way, you could say that we try to use God. But the God who governs the galaxies and created the world with His words will not be used.
God is not looking for rash vows. In fact, Proverbs 20:25 says: “It is a snare to say rashly, ‘It is holy,’ and to reflect only after making vows.” Any basketball coach will tell you that follow through matters when you’re taking a shot. Follow through matters for the follower of Jesus. When we make a commitment to God, we need to follow through.
Exodus 8
Many people bargain with God when they find themselves in perilous situations. Sometimes this is referred to as foxhole prayers or foxhole conversions. It comes from a saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” The metaphor is a soldier in a foxhole with bullets flying all around his head. In desperation, He pleads with God, perhaps makes promises to God, if only He will spare his life.
The innuendo is that ultimately the person, when out of danger, will forget the promises made to God and will go on living their life as they had before. It’s kind of similar to what we see in Exodus 8 with Pharaoh. God would ultimately bring ten plagues to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. In yesterday’s passage we read about the first plague: the water turning into blood. In today’s chapter we see the second through the fourth plagues: the frogs, gnats and flies.
Imagine how nasty this would have been. Who wouldn’t plead with God to remove the mass infiltration of these creatures. And that’s actually what we see Pharaoh do. In v. 8, after the plague of the frogs, Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
We also see the same thing after the plagues of the gnats and flies in v. 28: “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” But in both cases, once the plagues are removed, Pharaoh changes His mind and refuses to let the people go.
He wants God’s help in the moment, but doesn’t ultimately want to do what God wants. We can be guilty of this, can’t we? We want God to help us with our stuff, or to get us out of a jam, which in many cases we created. In a way, you could say that we try to use God. But the God who governs the galaxies and created the world with His words will not be used.
God is not looking for rash vows. In fact, Proverbs 20:25 says: “It is a snare to say rashly, ‘It is holy,’ and to reflect only after making vows.” Any basketball coach will tell you that follow through matters when you’re taking a shot. Follow through matters for the follower of Jesus. When we make a commitment to God, we need to follow through.
Posted in Journey of Hope