The Pinky Finger // Why I think it's the most powerful
Faith is tricky. It's hard to walk in the life of faith without any "real" guidance for where you're going. To be honest, some of the time I'm not fully sure if the bible is real. But, then there is always something that goes down in my life that assures me that God is real and my faith can be real, if I pursue it.
But I'm not here today to tell you about the cool things that God has done in my life -- that would require far more, much longer posts than this. But I am here to shine a small light on why faith is so hard. It's going to be straightforward, but hopefully it will make sense and open up something that you maybe didn't think about before. And that, is how to walk of life of sticky faith.
In Exodus, a miraculous story takes place. The Hebrew people are slaves in Egypt, and the Pharaoh has ordered that every newborn hebrew boy gets drown in the river (as a means of population control). There is one, Hebrew mother in particular who didn't want her son to be sacrificed, and so she puts him in woven basket and places him in the river, hoping that he will survive. And, with God's hand guiding him, he ends up on the palace step, the princess takes him in and raises him as her own. Fast forward twenty (or so) years, Moses, the boy saved from the river, discovers that he is a Hebrew, and runs away to a far off place. Then he meets God, who tells him to go back to Egypt and set his people free. And Moses performs miracles, what have been come to be known as the Twelve Plagues. Each of these plagues is aimed against one of the Egyptian gods:
Throughout these Plagues, God is showing that He is the most powerful of all the gods. Even the Egyptian Magicians, who were trying to replicate all of these plagues to prove that they were anything special, were surprised at what was happening. Don't believe me? Just look at Exodus 8:19, which says, "...The magicians said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.' But Pharaoh's hear was hard and hew would not listen, just as the Lord had said."
Those Magicians new that something much more powerful than a few magic tricks were going on. It was the very hand of God moving and making miracles happen just as Moses said they would. But, what's even more powerful, is that this is just a finger of God -- not even His whole hand! The magicians knew that they couldn't beat this power.
But here's the real kicker: when I think of my most powerful finger, I typically think of my thumb, my pointer finger, or my middle finger. Not only are those the fingers that are both physically strong, but they also have the most power to inflict emotional pain (whether it's a sarcastic thumbs up, a pointed finger, or flipping someone the birds). But no, if I remember what my teacher told me, this isn't just any 'ole finger of God: it's his little finger. That's right. God has the power to crush every single one of the Egyptian gods with his little finger. Now I don't know about you, but I think that's really cool.
However, I still haven't made my point. I said that I was going to talk about the difficulties with walking a life of faith.
Walking through life, we have lots of gods -- or things that vie for our time, money, affections, etc. These are things that we worship, that we put above God in our life. And all of these little gods are controlled by one person -- Satan. The devil himself. He is in the world, ruling our lives and royally fucking things up (please excuse my language, but I think it's only fitting to describe it this way). But, like He did with the Egyptian gods, God overpowers them. And not will all of his might, or even with a hand. He overpowers them with a pinky finger.
When we're walking through life, trying to do God's will, the devil is always going to be there to block us and to deter us from the truth. However, if we are like Moses, and ask God to come into our life, he can tie the devil down with the power of his little finger. This way, we can hope to pursue the life that God has called us too -- we can share His word, do things out of love, and actually learn how to treat others as God wants us to treat them. As the Lord's Prayer says, "deliver us from the evil one" -- or, in modern tongue, "God, bind down the devil long enough so that we can do Your work on earth."
And that, my friends, is why I am proud to hold my pinky high and talk to the God that holds all the power.
Learning to ask God to lend me His strength,
Carly
But I'm not here today to tell you about the cool things that God has done in my life -- that would require far more, much longer posts than this. But I am here to shine a small light on why faith is so hard. It's going to be straightforward, but hopefully it will make sense and open up something that you maybe didn't think about before. And that, is how to walk of life of sticky faith.
In Exodus, a miraculous story takes place. The Hebrew people are slaves in Egypt, and the Pharaoh has ordered that every newborn hebrew boy gets drown in the river (as a means of population control). There is one, Hebrew mother in particular who didn't want her son to be sacrificed, and so she puts him in woven basket and places him in the river, hoping that he will survive. And, with God's hand guiding him, he ends up on the palace step, the princess takes him in and raises him as her own. Fast forward twenty (or so) years, Moses, the boy saved from the river, discovers that he is a Hebrew, and runs away to a far off place. Then he meets God, who tells him to go back to Egypt and set his people free. And Moses performs miracles, what have been come to be known as the Twelve Plagues. Each of these plagues is aimed against one of the Egyptian gods:
War with the Gods of Egypt (the plagues)
1. Osiris - Water to blood
2. Heqet - Frogs
3. Geb? - Gnats
4. Nephtys(?) - Flies
5. Hator - Plague on livestock
6. Thoth - Boils
7. Seth (Min) - Hail
8. Min - Locusts
9. Amun Ra - Darkness
10. Nekhbet - Firstborn
11. Horus(?!) - WarThroughout these Plagues, God is showing that He is the most powerful of all the gods. Even the Egyptian Magicians, who were trying to replicate all of these plagues to prove that they were anything special, were surprised at what was happening. Don't believe me? Just look at Exodus 8:19, which says, "...The magicians said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.' But Pharaoh's hear was hard and hew would not listen, just as the Lord had said."
Those Magicians new that something much more powerful than a few magic tricks were going on. It was the very hand of God moving and making miracles happen just as Moses said they would. But, what's even more powerful, is that this is just a finger of God -- not even His whole hand! The magicians knew that they couldn't beat this power.
But here's the real kicker: when I think of my most powerful finger, I typically think of my thumb, my pointer finger, or my middle finger. Not only are those the fingers that are both physically strong, but they also have the most power to inflict emotional pain (whether it's a sarcastic thumbs up, a pointed finger, or flipping someone the birds). But no, if I remember what my teacher told me, this isn't just any 'ole finger of God: it's his little finger. That's right. God has the power to crush every single one of the Egyptian gods with his little finger. Now I don't know about you, but I think that's really cool.
However, I still haven't made my point. I said that I was going to talk about the difficulties with walking a life of faith.
Walking through life, we have lots of gods -- or things that vie for our time, money, affections, etc. These are things that we worship, that we put above God in our life. And all of these little gods are controlled by one person -- Satan. The devil himself. He is in the world, ruling our lives and royally fucking things up (please excuse my language, but I think it's only fitting to describe it this way). But, like He did with the Egyptian gods, God overpowers them. And not will all of his might, or even with a hand. He overpowers them with a pinky finger.
When we're walking through life, trying to do God's will, the devil is always going to be there to block us and to deter us from the truth. However, if we are like Moses, and ask God to come into our life, he can tie the devil down with the power of his little finger. This way, we can hope to pursue the life that God has called us too -- we can share His word, do things out of love, and actually learn how to treat others as God wants us to treat them. As the Lord's Prayer says, "deliver us from the evil one" -- or, in modern tongue, "God, bind down the devil long enough so that we can do Your work on earth."
Learning to ask God to lend me His strength,
Carly
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