“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and tell him: Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go to worship me. If you refuse to let them go and persist in holding them, I warn you . . . .’ But though Pharaoh’s messengers informed him . . . he still remained obdurate and would not let the people go” (Exodus 9:1-7).
I won’t batten down my hatches of resistance. I will use this opportunity to grow.
“Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘I have sinned again! The LORD is just; it is I and my subjects who are at fault. Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough of God’s thunder and hail. Then I will let you go; you need stay no longer’” (Exodus 9:27-8).
I may not have made the perfect choices or done the best I could, but holding on does not contribute to my very highest good.
“But Pharaoh, seeing that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, sinned again: he with his servants became obdurate, and in his obstinacy he would not let the Israelites go, as the LORD had foretold through Moses” (Exodus 9:34-5).
When I’m on the other side, I’ll know that letting go of all the things I didn’t need will help me getting whole.
“Then the LORD told Moses, ‘One more plague will I bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. After that he will let you depart. In fact, he will not merely let you go; he will drive you away’” (Exodus 11:1)
I know that healing means letting go of holding on to things that do not serve me, things that I don’t need, things that I am done with and no longer choose to feed.