But For This Purpose

Scripture: Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” Exodus 9:13
But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:16

Observation: God declares his purpose for people. His purpose in rescuing his people is that they might serve him. His purpose in placing Pharaoh in power is so that God’s name may be proclaimed. For both the faithful and faithless, God has a plan. He uses all for his purposes.

Application: I think loss of purpose is a modern-day plague that affects us all. It affects those far from God in that they live lives unaware of the purpose for which they have been created. It affects even believers who tend to forget why they were rescued. Believers can easily think they were rescued for some future purpose—Heaven. Or they were rescued to be free from a past consequence—their sin. But it is easy to forget we are saved to serve. We are rescued to follow and obey God. When we see this, it helps us put the purpose of evil in context. Instead of shaking our fists at Heaven and asking why an evil like Pharaoh has power in this world, we can see that ultimately, Pharaoh is a pawn of God, moved around His chessboard for the purpose of proclaiming God’s name. Because of Pharaoh’s evil, the power of God to rescue is a bell that still sounds to this day. Without the evil, there could be no deliverance.

Prayer: God, help me remember my purpose. You saved me to serve. You use even evil to proclaim your name. Help me remind my kids of this, myself of this, my church of this. God has a purpose for Pulpit Rock—he saved us to serve His purpose now. Thanks for your sovereignty. It has always been a rock I come back to again and again when the world spins.