In Exodus 8, we read a familiar account of Moses and Pharaoh. Frogs have swarmed from the Nile, and every inch of the land is covered. Houses, bedrooms, even kitchen kneading bowls are filling with frogs, and Pharaoh is ready to yield to God’s demand.
He summons Moses and begs, “Please, make the frogs go, and I’ll let the people go and worship their God.”
“And when should the frogs go?” Moses asks.
“Tomorrow.”
We know the story. The next day comes, Moses asks the Lord to take away the frogs, and the frogs leave. But “when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart” (vs. 15).
Pharaoh hardened his heart.
Today, Not Tomorrow
Later, the Psalmist wrote, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart…” (Psalm 95:7 NASB)
Often, in a moment before the Lord, maybe in a worship service or after a sweet time in His word, we hear His gentle voice urging us to do something (or stop doing something).
When the Lord first speaks, it is clear. We know what to do. In the presence of God’s power, Pharaoh clearly decided to free God’s people.
Yet when Moses asked, “When do you want to do this?”, his reply was, “Tomorrow.”
He hesitated to obey God’s voice. And when “tomorrow” came, and all was okay again, Pharaoh retracted his promise, returning to his old ways.
Isn’t this so much like us?
Delayed Obedience
In a still moment, we hear His gentle call … Put down your phone. Stop arguing. Apologize. Call your friend. Share a verse with that sister at church. Invite your neighbor for dinner. Read that book. Don’t read that book.
Yet too often, we delay.
Then tomorrow comes, and in the new day, the call we heard so clearly is now just a faint whisper. We dismiss God’s speaking altogether with excuses, like “Oh, I’m too busy,” or we rationalize it away: “God really didn’t ask me to do that.”
But how often it is our Lord’s still small voice calling to us. Longing for us to come and discover something more of Him. Longing for us to be brought into something more. Something hard, maybe.
Something that can cause pain even as it uproots sin in us. But obedience to our Lord is the way to know Him more, to experience deeper communion and fellowship with Him—always.
What is He Directing You to Today?
The Lord sees every little obedience, every seemingly small submission to His voice. And obedience in these small things will lead to even greater obedience in the larger and harder things, as well as increasing our love of Him (John 14:15).
His voice is not that of a harsh taskmaster, demanding submission, but of a kind and gentle Father, a Father who desires a deep and abiding relationship with His children, filled with blessings (Luke 11:28).
Do you have something He is asking from you “today”?
