Bargaining with God 1. God is faithful to His promises In Exodus ch.7 all the way through ch.8, that God does exactly what He says He will do every time.  Pharaoh still holding Israelites captive  Thus says the Lord, Let my people go but if/or else - promises (vs. 1-2, 20-21) God, through Moses, laid out plainly exactly what He was going to do if Pharaoh obeyed or disobeyed  In any case, God is faithful to his promise, even if we aren’t. We get to choose whether we receive His blessings or His judgment. I’m sure we have all experienced both sides. But if we know God is fighting for us the same way He fought for the Israelites, why do we so often choose to ignore when God comes through for us? As if we delivered ourselves.     2. Pharaoh(we) is(are) faithful when it’s convenient for Pharaoh(us)  Every time Moses brings a plague from God, Pharaoh begs Moses to plead to God on his behalf for the plague to stop(vs. 8, 30). And as we already have seen, God is faithful so He stops the plague, but Pharaoh still won’t let the Israelites go. Noah showed us last week that Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Israelites go out of fear they would become too great.  Pharaoh is in a position of power - ego leads to belief that I did this  Pharaoh gets in a bind, God turns the heat down, Pharaoh forgets God Pharaoh received overwhelming evidence of God’s authority over him Sign after sign, plague after plague, miracle after miracle  Pharaoh refused to acknowledge that the Lord God is greater than he.  Pharaoh’s people made to suffer for his decisions - effects of the plagues not isolated to Pharaoh - effects of our choices not isolated to us. The choices you make today matter. The choices you make today and everyday, affect those around you. When you had a bad day, did you take it to God or did you take it home and your family had to suffer for your bad day? Are you living in generational curses or are you breaking them? Are you financially bettering yourself so you can have the things you want or so your kids won’t have to go through the same things you did? The choices you make matter. Your faithfulness matters.  How many of us are only faithful when it's convenient for us?  Oh it’s raining/cold im not going to church today I’ve been busy all week I’m too tired to serve on sunday  I had an unexpected expense I can’t tithe this week  Our faithfulness should give us the strength to say “even if”.  Even if all of these things happen or the world is crumbling around me, I will serve the Lord.           3. In all things, God is sovereign  Even if all of these things happen or the world is crumbling around you, God is still sovereign.  He will make a way where there seems to be no way. Even if I can’t see you, I seek you. Even if I can’t feel you, I still praise you. Even when I don’t see it, you’re working.  Transformational moments:  Are you like Pharaoh and only faithful when it’s convenient for you? Does your faithfulness give you strength to say “Even if”? Do you need to re-examine your daily decisions?  Do you need to surrender to God’s purpose for your life? Are you living the way you want to live or the way He has called you to live?