Stinkin Thinkin

Yesterday I told you about Pharaoh and his putting things out of sight out of mind. His actions certainly did not have a positive outcome for him or for his people. God has been teaching me several things through the story of the exodus of the Israelites and I guess you can probably tell this is where I have landed in my One Year Chronological Bible over the past few days. There are lots of lessons weaved within this story for me to learn, and maybe they can help you too. I have another one for you today.

It’s about stinkin thinkin and what it does…..


Yesterday we talked about all of the water in Egypt turning into blood and about Pharaoh walking away from the situation doing nothing. Well, let’s back up a few paragraphs. God is explaining to Moses how all of this is going to play out and he tells Moses what he is to say to Pharaoh beginning in Exodus 7: 17.

Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood. The fish in it will die, and the river will stink.

So – Moses and Aaron followed the instructions and did just what God told them to do while Pharaoh and his buddies watched.

Verse 20

…Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood! 21 The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it.

God warned them that the river would stink, and it did. This just doesn’t say it stunk, it says it was foul. I don’t know about you, but I don’t use the word “foul” very often to describe something that stinks, unless it REALLY stinks, then I pull out “foul”. Foul to me is more than just an ordinary stinky trash can. This must have been bad.

Then there’s another problem and it too was one that a can of Lysol couldn’t fix.

After all of the water turned to blood, a week later, a plague of frogs hopped onto the scene, and they hopped just about every where. The frogs were in their homes, even in their ovens. It was so bad that Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and begged them to talk to God about removing the frogs. Moses prayed about it the next day.

All of the frogs, except those in the river died, the people piled the dead frogs into huge heaps, and guess what?!?

They stunk.

Chapter 8:14

and a terrible stench filled the land.

Stench – another word I rarely use unless something really stinks. Can you imagine what heaps and heaps of dead frogs must have smelled like? Eww.

I told you all of that to say this:

Pharaoh’s heart was hard, his attitude was stinky. Stinky attitudes usually produce stinky environments.

I know it usually works that way around my house. Everything can be just fine, and if one member of our family comes home foul, very often the environment in our entire household reeks of a terrible stench within minutes.

Maybe we need to work on making our attitudes “environmentally friendly” and get rid of our stinkin thinkin before it infects everyone around us.

Please forgive me for my many times of foul attitudes that produced foul environments. That is not the attitude that glorifies You, therefore it has no place in my life. Father, please remove my heart of stone that stinks and replace with a heart that is reflective of You. A heart that produces a fragrant offering unto your throne everyday.




Royal Princess Daughter Of The King