Midnight

Midnight is never a good time.

God is never convenient. Moving a nation out of a nation at midnight has got to be difficult. But perhaps this is the way of the Lord, and maybe you can testify that though God delivered you from something, it was a tough time when He did. 

“At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favourably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.” Exodus 12:29-36

The Lord struck at midnight. During the darkness when all were asleep, and no one was expecting anything (except God’s people), judgement came. 

There were no exceptions. “There was not a house without someone dead.” From Pharaoh’s palace to the prisoner’s dungeon, wealth, power, and status had built nothing that could stop this. The wailing that rose that night came from every spectrum of society. 

The man who once asked “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?” now begs for a blessing from the God he refused to know.

The Egyptians who had enslaved Israel for generations now urge them to hurry, and they hand over silver, gold, and clothing on the way out. God doesn’t just deliver His people, but He sends them out blessed, exactly as He told Moses at the burning bush He would.

Deliverance of your situation may not look orderly. You could be going through some fast changes right now. It may be very messy; in fact, deliverance can be as painful and concerning as the pain of being held and constrained. But this period of time is God’s moment of moving you into the next chapter. Notice the commands that come from the enemy:-

Up! Leave! Go! Worship the Lord.

When the doors of your life open up, they can do so almost violently. It can mean you have to act without delay, for the door may only be open for a short time and it may even be very inconvenient, at midnight.