The Exodus...

As I was reading through Exodus and the Israelites were being led out of Egypt by Moses and the Lord God, I realized how incredibly God is in control of all things. I always thought before that Pharaoh must have been evil or mean or something to refuse to let the Israelites leave Egypt. God said He would harden Pharaoh's heart. He did harden his heart and more than once. As God kept saying through Moses to Pharaoh to let his people leave Egypt in order to worship their God and that He would rain down on Egypt plagues if he refused, God knew all along that He would harden Pharaoh's heart. The fact that Pharaoh wouldn't let the Israelites go wasn't because of Pharaoh, but because of God. He did it in order to bring for himself glory among the Israelites and eventually among the Egyptians as well. I was amazed at how bigger my view of God became. I always thought that if a bad thing was happening that it was because God must have just allowed that to happen. Now, my view has changed to God actually causing or making strife, doing something in order for His own exaltation and greatness to be shown.