Exodus 7-11: Surrender is the Best Option

Even Pharaoh's magicians recognized that there was someone more powerful than them.  They had a lot of magic tricks up their sleeves, but when it came to producing gnats as numerous as dust, they were stymied.  The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” - Exodus 8:19 NIV

Pharaoh knew it was God as well, but he was not going to give God any of the credit.  It was Pharaoh's way or the highway.  Pharaoh knew that he was very powerful, so powerful, he thought he could thumb his nose at God, but in the end, that proved to be a foolish attempt.  What Pharaoh missed was that he was being used by God whether or not he recognized it.  The worse the situation got, the more God's power became obvious.  What began as God showing his power in simple demonstrations that even Pharaoh's magicians could duplicate, escalated into plagues of boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally, a plague on the firstborn of all the land. 

Pharaoh's heart was unyielding as far as God was concerned.  'You don't know who you're dealing with', God had Moses tell Pharaoh.  For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. - Ex. 9:14-16 

Even those of us who know the Lord sometimes have difficulty surrendering our wants and desires to what God has intended for our lives.  As a result, we suffer the consequences, sometimes for years, of wanting our own way.  God's power will be shown, so it's best to humble ourselves before him early on.  Surrender, when you're fighting with God is always the best solution.

2010 Post:  Exodus 9-12:  God Ups the Ante