Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

FRIGHTENING FROGS One of the most humorous of Aesop's fables tells of the hares that were despondent because their lives were in constant danger from foxes, lions, bears, and men. Because of this sorry plight, they decided to drown themselves. However, when they got to the lake, the frogs sunning there leaped into the water. "They're actually afraid of us," cried one of the rabbits. "We scared them!" The hares then abandoned their suicide plans and spent the rest of their days sitting around the edge of the lake frightening frogs. Man's reaction to his lot in life is often the same as the hares. He responds to his environment in anger or hostility and resorts to self-destruction or destroying others. This was Israel's response when Moses went to the mountaintop to meet with God. After Moses had been gone for many days, despair set in. The Israelites began feeling sorry for themselves and were lost in lust and destruction. That was the evil sight which greeted Moses when he came down from the mountain. God was so angry that He wanted to destroy the people. But Moses prayed (Exodus 32:11-14), and Israel was spared. The reaction of Moses to crisis was the wisest one--he prayed. When troubles come, we would be much wiser to pray than to react with hostility or give into despair. Prayer should be our first reaction to any crisis.