“One More Night With The Frogs”

Main Scripture: Exodus 8:2-14

Speaker: Pastor Lorrie Owens

“Procrastination is my sin, It brings me naught but sorrow.
I know that I should stop it; In fact, I will...tomorrow.” Gloria Pitzer


In our passage today, the Lord has sent the plague of frogs to the land of Egypt in response to Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Hebrews go. There weren’t just a few frogs hopping around – there were millions. They were everywhere. Think about it. You’re trying to cook in your kitchen; you open your oven, and out hop frogs. You’re lying in your bed at night; you turn over and look into the eyes of – frogs. Frogs may not be the worst animal in the world, but they certainly aren’t something I’d want in my house. They’re kind of ugly and slimy; they shed (and even eat their old skin), and the croaking sound they make is hideous. Pharaoh finally came to his senses and sent for Moses, asking him to pray to the Lord to remove the frogs. When Moses asked Pharaoh when he wanted him to pray for the removal of the frogs, Pharaoh replied “tomorrow”.

Personally, I would have said “yesterday”!

At first, it appears Pharaoh is crazy. But, when we really think about it, we’re not that different than Pharaoh. God does not want anything to stand between us and Him. He sent His Son to ensure that deliverance is available from anything that harms our relationship with Him. All we have to do is ask for the deliverance. But, too often, our response is the same as Pharaoh’s. “I know I need to get my life together, and I’m going to. Really. Tomorrow……”

We all have frogs in our lives. We may think they are just little tadpoles – eating too much, gossiping, having a bit of a temper. Or, maybe we realize that our frogs are full-grown monsters: additions to drugs, alcohol, sex, physical abuse, adultery. We can have external frogs (ones that others can see), or internal frogs, like jealously, selfishness, or pride. Our frogs may start out looking good to us, like a new romantic interest. The frogs that invaded Egypt probably didn’t look so bad to the Egyptians at first. Frogs represented fertility to the Egyptians of that time. One of the things they worshipped was a goddess named Heqet, who was the goddess of fertility. She was depicted with the body of a woman and the head of a frog. But that good thing quickly grew into a serious problem.

That new relationship starts out well – an attractive love interest, someone to spend time with, the excitement of new love. But that person starts convincing you to do things that you know are ungodly. You know you need to get away from the person. Your friends and family are telling you that you need to end the relationship as soon as possible. The Holy Spirit is telling you to sever all ties with the person. And you tell yourself every day that you are going to do just that – tomorrow.

Also, keep in mind that the longer you take to ask God to deliver you from your issue, the greater the impact of that issue on you future. Keep in mind that when God did deliver the Egyptians from the frogs, the frogs did not just disappear. They died. As you can imagine, it probably didn’t smell too good around there will millions of dead frogs piled into heaps. Had Pharaoh asked Moses to pray sooner, there wouldn’t have been quite as many dead frogs to clean up behind. Maybe your drinking problem, or your promiscuity, or your gambling hasn’t gotten out of hand, at least not yet. But, rather than ask God to deliver you, you continue living with your frog. Now, after losing you job, wreaking you marriage, having a baby out of wedlock that you can’t take care of, ruining your health, you finally come to God and ask Him to deliver you. And, He does. But the consequences are still there. Had you not procrastinated, maybe things would not have ended up being this bad.

My brothers and sisters, when God reveals the frogs in your life to you, do not wait until tomorrow to accept the deliverance He so freely offers. Do not be like Pharaoh. Claim your deliverance today! Tomorrow is not promised to you. 2 Corinthians 6:2b tells us that today, not tomorrow, is the day of salvation. In James 4:17, we are told that it is a sin to know that you are supposed to do something and not do it. Do not procrastinate. Do not wait. Ask the Lord to deliver you from those frogs today.