At this time in the series, I am going to jump to the book of Exodus where we meet Moses and the Israelites. 

I’m sure we have all heard many Aesop’s fables, I’m going to share a humorous one. This fable is about Hares and Frogs. The hares lived with low spirits and lacked courage because their lives were in constant danger from foxes, lions, bears and men. One day the hares saw a troop of wild horses stampeding about, and because of their great fear of being killed by other beasts, they decided to drown themselves. They thought it would be better to drown themselves than to continually live in a state of fear. However when they got to the bank of the lake, the frogs who were sun bathing leaped into the water. “They’re actually afraid of us,” cried one of the hares. “We scared them!” The hares then abandoned their suicide plans and spent the rest of their days sitting around the edge of the lake frightening frogs. 
 

 
The way human beings reacts to things in life is often the same as how the hares did. Humans respond to their environment in anger or hostility and resort to self-destruction or destroying others. An example of this in the bible is Israel’s response when Moses went to the mountain to meet with God. After Moses had been gone for many days, despair set in amongst the Israelites. They began to feel sorry for themselves, they were lost in lust and destruction. 

Unfortunately, that was the evil sight which greeted Moses as he came down from the mountain. God was very angry that he wanted to destroy his own people. They were not grateful for what He had done for them, all they did was complain. But the twist is that Moses prayed and God spared Israel. 

Exodus 32:11-14 (NLT)

But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.”So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.

The reaction that Moses had in time of crisis was the wisest one – he prayed. In times of crisis, How do you react? Who do you turn to?   When trouble comes, we would be much wiser to pray than to react with hostility or give into despair. Prayer should always be our first reaction to any crisis. 

It is honouring to God when our first and immediate response to any situation is to consult him. As Christians we are told to “acknowledge Him in all our ways” and “Seek first the Kingdom of God”, we can accomplish this by making him our first consultant and advisor. That way he will be able to direct our path, just as he promised. If we properly engage in prayer, we are more likely to be kept out of crisis. 

If you haven’t done so already you can read the post entitled “Steering Wheel or Spare Tyre?” it elaborates more on prayer being our first resort. My prayer is that we all make it a habit to turn to God immediately in times of crisis. Go onto the tab “A Walkthrough the Major Prayers in the Bible” to view all the posts related to this series. 

Stay blessed,

Dara x