"The Hurrier I Go, the Behinder I Get"

"The Hurrier I Go, the Behinder I Get" is a reminder to slow down and take our time. When we are in a rush, we make mistakes, tangle ourselves up, and get less done in the long run. I was thinking of that this morning as I was reading about Moses and the Plagues of Egypt.

Exodus 12:40 says that the Israelites stayed in Egypt 430 years. In those last thirty years, I wonder if the people thought about the promise God made to Abraham, in Genesis 15:13-14, that his offspring would be in a foreign land for 400 years, and then leave with many possessions. Were they wondering why God was being so slow? Had God forgotten them?

Of course, many people have wondered about this inconsistency. For examples of various theories, look here and here. I have another theory.

Moses, made famous for leading his people out of Egypt, became aware of their plight when he was 40. He had been raised as the son of Pharoah's daughter, and for some reason only clued in to the troubles of the Israelites as an adult. He was so upset by what he saw, that he ended up killing someone, and was accused of murder. He ran away and hid in Midian for 40 years. Only when his accusers were dead did he return to Egypt to bring his people out of slavery, at the age of 80. This was the 430th year.

What I wonder is this: Moses turned 40 in the 390th year, and was strategically placed inside the palace. Could he have found a peaceful, non-violent solution? Negotiations might have taken ten years, but even at that pace, the Israelites would have been out of Egypt in the promised 400 years. But Moses tried to hurry things. He got off track by trying to change things with violence, with his own physical power.

Instead of 10 years of negotiations, he spent forty in hiding, followed by the series of plagues and disasters designed to show the Egyptians that God was indeed God.

I wonder how many times we too get in our own way, so that the answers to our prayers take longer than need be. Egypt today is again suffering. What began as a peaceful protest has morphed into deadly riots. They may be able to change the government, but their hurry may, in the end, cause lasting harm.