Pay Attention

Exodus 9:13-35

“So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.”  (Exodus 9:35)

It seems inexplicable.  Pharaoh and the Egyptians have already experienced six plagues:  water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock diseased, and boils.  Now, Moses warns Pharaoh that the Lord God will send thunder and hail unlike any Egypt has ever seen.  In the face of this destruction, Pharaoh tells Moses, “Enough of God’s thunder and hail!  I will let you go; you need stay no longer” (Ex. 9:28).  Yet, as soon as the storm ceases, he changes his mind and ignores what he has seen and experienced.  As soon as the crisis resolves, it is back to business as usual, and Pharaoh will not let the Israelites go. 

As I reflected on this passage, I found myself wondering if we are ever like Pharaoh:  attentive in crisis and then inattentive when things return to normal.   Or more generally, do we shift from attention to inattention?  From being mindful of God’s presence and then seemingly unaware? The Lenten invitation implicit in this passage is to focus and reorient our attention on the Holy One.  We are invited to pay attention and to discover, or to rediscover, what it is that God is doing in us as individuals and as a community of faith.  We are invited to hear the God who calls sometimes with thunderous voice and at other times with a soft whisper. 

Prayer: Gracious loving God, we get so caught up in the storm swirling around us, that we are inattentive to your presence.  And yet, you are still here.  Fill us with an awareness of your presence.  Empower us to hear your voice and to respond to your call.  And grant that we might share your grace and your love with others.  In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen. 

Written by Stacey Watkins-Griffith