Making a Distinction

I want to share something with you that I would like to be a point of focus for us, as a group, in our prayers. Every time I read a newspaper or turn on a news channel, I am bombarded by messages about lay-offs and business closings. It is striking close to home, too, as I know of a number of families in our church that are being affected. I don’t want to minimize this in any way… in fact, I want to speak directly from the heart, as a person who has been struggling through this crisis myself. You see, one of the byproducts of the present economic climate is that charitable giving is down markedly. Because of this fact, the non-profit organization of which Debbie was the Executive Director made the decision to close last year. This left us with a number of months in which she wasn’t paid. While we thank God that He has provided her with a new job, we will still feel the effects of her lost income for quite some time. I’m not writing this seeking pity, rather to simply say that we are “walking through the valley,” as are many of you.
Here, then is what I want to share with you: chapters 7-12 of Exodus tell of the 10 plagues that the Lord sent on Egypt so the Egyptians would release the Children of Israel from slavery and allow them to go to Canaan. The entire nation of Egypt endured the first three plagues (this seemingly included the Israelites). However, in chapter 8, verse 22 things shift. Check this out: “But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the LORD, am in the land. I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow." In the midst of the worst national disasters in the history of Egypt, God spared His people. He allowed them to go through part of the plagues, but then He stepped in.
Already, He has allowed us to go through part of this crisis, but I want us to pray that God would again “make a distinction” between His people and the rest of the nation. We should pray that The Crossing would be like the land of Goshen was in the days leading up to the exodus of Israel.