They must have thought they were in a living hell. Even though God inflicted the ten plagues on the Egyptians and protected the Israelites each time (Exodus 10-12), God’s people would have been surrounded by grotesque calamity: blood soaked fish rotting on the shore; bloated livestock stinking in the fields; crushed, hole-riddled, pest-ravaged crops; disease-devoured, starving Egyptians stumbling, falling, and crawling in the streets; days of devastating darkness; the stench of death from one horizon to the other. Scholars estimate the total time for this lethal display of God’s power lasted from three to as many as nine months. Imagine living under these conditions for that long! Scripture doesn’t include references to Moses or the Israelites suffering or complaining during the plagues, but knowing their penchant for protesting during the exodus itself (Exodus 14:10; 15:23-24; 16:2-3; Numbers 11:1-2, 4-6; 14:2-4), I can imagine their anguished pleading. “Why, God!?”“How long, Lord!? “Deliver us!” Even those with the strongest faith couldn’t have imagined their role in the epic scope of God’s overarching plan: the development of the historic witness of God’s explosive provision and deliverance from cruel oppression that would be the bedrock of the salvation of all humankind culminated 1,500 years later through Jesus Christ, and its continual declaration spanning another 2,000 years to us today (Matthew 2:15; Romans 10:4; Hebrews 13:20-21). They were integral to one of the greatest moments in the history of humanity! What a legacy!
So, I am strengthened in my faith that whatever struggles I face, whatever chaos surrounds me, however much desperation threatens me, whenever questions of “why” and “how long” bubble up, there is a much bigger plan at work—a grand chess board that I cannot see, each move calculated by God for the pouring in of His good and perfect end-game for my life (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28). So, from this truth I draw no-matter-what peace, hope, love and joy and seek God’s Word and Spirit for the revealing of God’s purpose for my life.
If you are in such a place, gather your support people and pray the Lord’s Prayer, recognize you are asking for God’s will be done. Make covenant to pray this together everyday:
Traditional Translation:
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
My Interpretation:
Our Father, wonderful and mighty in heaven, your name towering with power above all things. O God, break open your Kingdom on the earth, that we might have a foretaste now of what is yet to come. Your will is infinitely more important than our own and so we ask that you would work things out according to your great plan, even if it causes us short term discomfort. Give us this day all we need, and may we have peace and contentment with no measure more than that. Forgives us as we, are at the same time, forgiving all who have caused us harm. May we put on your Spiritual Armor that we would resist temptations, practicing self-control and habit-breaking. We trust your Holy Spirit as our source of all truth and our guide through life. Pull us back from the edge of self-indulgence that we might not fall into a sin-death downward spiral. For the Kingdom, the power and the glory are all yours and will be forever and ever. Amen.
(Scripture references are not exhaustive, but starting points for study)
Painting:
The Fifth Plague of Egypt, 1800, JMW Turner
The Runnin' Rev 
Thank you Anne. I look forward to more of your musings.
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