Most people in the United States, at least in my generation grew up in a religion. As a result of this upbringing, when asked, most state that they do worship God. But do they? The God of Christianity and Judaism expects exclusivity, as we read in the Ten Commandments. In the first commandment in Exodus 20:2-3, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "You shall have no other gods before Me." As one goes through God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt in sending the ten plagues detailed in Exodus 7-11, it may at first seem like a random bunch of judgments. But we don't serve a random God. Each plague was directed at one of the false gods that Egypt revered (Hapi - the god of the Nile, Heket (head of frog) - the goddess of fertility, Geb - god of the dust of the earth, etc). You might ask what that has to do with us now, since we don't worship these gods. But, anything that is worshipped over the One True God, becomes our god. God eliminated the gods of Egypt, which the Israelites were immersed in for four hundred years, so that they could focus on Him. As things are being eliminated, are we setting our gaze on the only One with the power to lead us and save us?

God listens to His people and offers to shoulder their burdens as we read in Psalm 81:6-7, "I removed his shoulder from the burden; His hands were freed from the baskets. You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah." But God will not be one of many gods, or one of many options, He is God alone and will not share worship, as we read in 81:8-10, ""Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me! There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." More than often, when people cry out to God, they are asking for deliverance from a particular situation, but really not seeking God to be the God of their lives, as we read in 81:11-12, "But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels." The greatest judgment God can deliver is to let people have their own way. In Romans, we read the repetitive phrase in 1:24, 26, 28, "Therefore God gave them up to uncleanness,...For this reason God gave them up to vile passions,...And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind,...".

God knows how blessed we would be if we would only seek Him, as we read in Psalm 81:13, "Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!" When chaos seems like the new norm, perhaps God is simply allowing us to have our own way. He has given us everything we could possibly need, but all too often most do not seek Him or even consider Him. Instead seeking their own counsel and whether one wants to admit it or not, their own gods. These "gods" are not necessarily bad things: family, jobs, income, travel, recreation, etc. But they are when they are the focus of all of our attention, and have become more important in our minds than God. Read the tender words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whose words were just as true then as they are now, in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." God is very much in control and ready to be the God of anyone's life if they will only seek Him. What else must be taken away before one realizes that He is the only answer.