Exodus 9:13b-18 "'This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me, or this time I will send the full force of My plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. (As Pharaoh's resistance continues, the Lord tells Moses to announce His seventh plague and that not only will the punishments continue, but they will also be even much more terrible. Even when the Lord permits dire circumstances to come against us, His purpose is always to turn our hearts to Him, that we will become so desperate that we finally have no choice but to seek Him. Pharaoh refuses to submit to and learn about God and His sovereign power. When hard times hit, as we pray for the Lord to deliver us, He also would tell us to seek Him to ask what He needs for us to learn from these places.) For by now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. (We can't even begin to fathom the Lord's forbearance and patience toward us. Yet, when we get frustrated with others for their wrongdoing, we yield quickly, and rationalize to ourselves, justifiably so, to judgmental frustration and a desire to get even and to punish them for their mistreatment. Yet, the God of the Universe Who has complete power over us chooses to restrain Himself and to extend mercy instead of judgment.) But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My Name might be proclaimed in all the earth. (Not because He needs us, not because He needs our praise or obedience or anything else from us, but because of His great love for us, because He knows yielding to Him is the best way for us, the Lord lovingly shows Himself strong on our behalf and against our enemies. Though He could have destroyed Pharaoh at any moment, He has spared Pharaoh to this time because He desires for the people He loves to see Him as Lord and to turn to Him.) You still set yourself against My people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.'" (The Lord uses even our rebellion against Him to show His power and strength. We tend to view weather and environment as mere natural events when, in fact, they, too, fall under the directives of God Himself and are used to warn us, to get our attention, to speak to us, of God's mighty power and His desire that we turn to Him. Continued disobedience results in great judgment.)
