8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD.”
Here we see an emotional response from Pharaoh and not a real conversion. He is suffering because of the frogs and he wants an easy way out. Suffering that produces only temporary change is wasted suffering. Some people think all suffering is a waste. But I take the view that suffering can accomplish many things that ease cannot. It is in suffering that we discover our true selves. Suffering puts pressure on our weaknesses and can force us to seek help outside ourselves. And if we are to grow in our relationship with the Lord, we must reach outside ourselves. Unfortunately, we often want to get away from the suffering so fast that we miss the lessons to be learned in the suffering. And these are the most important lessons of life. Pharaoh has had a life of ease. Born into royalty he had little fear of starvation. In fact, his life was probably filled with ease and pleasure. And now the frogs have taken away his quiet life. This might be the first time he ever had any annoyance that he could not just eliminate with the flick of his finger. Few of us have come from homes with this much luxury and ease, but compared to so many in the world, we live in luxury and ease. Having been in parts of the world where poverty is the norm, I have come to understand that we are very wealthy people. We may not have hoards of servants, but we don’t generally worry about starving to death. We have kitchen cabinets with food in them. We have so many things, and yet we still complain, just like Pharaoh, when some small inconvenience comes our way.