And the Lord Changed the Wind

In Exodus 10, you’ll find the story of Pharoah, Moses, and the Locusts.  To sum up the story in a couple of sentences, Moses wanted to leave Egypt with the Israelites, who were in slavery, but Pharaoh (top dog in Egypt) had a hard heart towards God and wouldn’t let His people go.  God sent a series of plagues, one of which was a thick coat of Locusts (bugs) over the entire land to compel Pharaoh to release the people.

This is the incredibly horrific description of that day in verse 13: ¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; ¹⁴ they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. ¹⁵ They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

Can you imagine the moment that Pharaoh had with God when he looked out the window and EVERYTHING was covered in bugs?  If you’re like me, the thought, “I surrender!” crosses your mind quite quickly.  And that is precisely the realization that Pharaoh had as well.  In verse 16 the Bible says, “¹⁶ Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”

No kidding…the best word in this chapter is QUICKLY.

And then God does His work.  In verse 19 it reads, “¹⁹ And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt.”

I love the fact that God’s response to Pharaoh’s repentance was immediate.  (Too bad Pharaoh didn’t have a permanent change in his life, but that’s for another story…) I also love that God simply changed the winds from allowing locusts into his life to whisking them far into the sea.  It wasn’t God’s desire to make Pharaoh suffer for sufferings sake, rather it was God’s desire to do ANYTHING to get Pharaoh’s attention.

Perhaps today you look around your life and it seems to be covered in problems.  Although not every hardship is a direct result of sin, maybe you know deep down that those problems are there because of your own disobedience and hard heart towards the things of God.  Maybe you know that our loving God is trying desperately to get your attention.  And you probably also know that your response should not be slow, but that you would turn quickly.

Maybe today is the day to ask for repentance and watch God change the wind in your life.