1.27.26 – The Pharaohs of Life

 Do you see anything a little odd or even backwards with Exodus 10:1?

"And God said to Moses: 'Come (bo) to Pharaoh, because I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants in order that I might show My signs in their midst...'"
(Ex. 10:1)

Did you notice the sequence? How does the fact that "I have hardened his heart" merit the reason to "come to Pharaoh"? Compare that with:

"You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt."
(Ex. 7:2–3)

"Come" rather than "go" says, "You are not alone. I will hold your hand and accompany you as we go together to the tyrant." Second, the Lord says, "You ought not to be scared, because it is I who has hardened (chazak) his heart. His stubborn will is also from Me."

And why would God make his heart hard and immovable if God wanted His people to go free? "So that I might show My signs in their midst..." (Ex. 10:2). "I want to be able to show My people the wonders and miracles I performed in order to liberate them from their oppressive bondage."

Each of us faces fears, obstacles, and challenges. We encounter people and circumstances, inside and outside, which scare us deeply, overwhelm us, and can bring out the worst in us. They cause us to become indignant, paralyzed, and miserable—and more times than not, it is our own imagination (James 4:1–4). These are natural emotions. We have the "fight or flight" response, guided by the emotional control center of our brain, the amygdala. Of course, at times, one or the other is the way to go.

Look at the verse again:

"...Come to Pharaoh, because I have hardened his heart..."
(Ex. 10:1)

When I encounter a Pharaoh in my life—a potent force that refuses to allow me to go free and to live my life to the fullest, to maximize all of my God-given potentials and serve God with joy, passion, creativity, and a full, excited heart—I need to recall that this reality was placed here by God. "I have hardened his heart." Do not get distracted by this "Pharaoh" and his incentives, by his inner voice lingering in your throat and chest. He is there in order to inspire my conviction, to stimulate my courage, to empower my soul, to dig deeper into my integrity, to excavate deeper recesses in my conscious mind, to allow me to flex my spiritual muscles and take a stand in life.

And remember, you never go alone to face adversity. You are coming with Me. I am always with you.

The "Pharaohs" are all part of your journey to fulfill your glorious mission. They are not obstructions but passages; not barriers but portals; not blockades but windows to discover who you are and allow you to fulfill your ultimate destiny. Every experience that seems so difficult and traumatizing is really here to assist you in discovering your deepest potentials, powers, and energies that may be completely hidden even to yourself.

As you discover all of those "hardened hearts" inside your own mind and out there in the world, and you want to go mad, take a deep breath and recall the words "I have hardened his heart." This is part of what God wants you to deal with, to confront, to look at, to reflect on—and always in order to bring you to unknown heights.

I was given a piece of Boy Scout wisdom many years ago when asked, "How do you climb a tall mountain?" Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths. Climbing mountains straight up is nearly impossible (I tried it once :-). Sometimes life is like a zigzag of challenges—as we will see in this week's Torah portion, Beshalach—but it is the only way to reach the top.

We do not know who we really are until we discover a serious challenge in our life. And in order to overcome it, we need to dig very deeply to find the stamina and resources to overcome adversity. You have to travel to an uncharted place in your mind that would have otherwise remained unexposed. In that process, you come across the true power and light inside you. You discover your true, extraordinary powers, which can then illuminate your life and your world in incredibly powerful ways.

Life offers us this opportunity each day of our lives by providing us with tests or challenges—some of them easier, some of them tougher. But like every flower, we must grow through layers of dirt.

Shalom,
Alan

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