Our thinking about who God is and what He does can be a bit too simplistic at times.  We think when we turn to God, all will be rosy, even though in the back of our minds are the words Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble.”  Admit it.  We are surprised, shocked even, when after giving ourselves to God; troubles come or what He said to do gets too hard to do!  When God calls us to a specific task, He will give us all we need to complete it—but in His way, in His timing, by His power leading us.  This requires tuning our listening skills to the extreme mode.

God is Truth.  God prepares Moses with the Truth of what will happen when he approaches hard-hearted Pharoah with God’s plan to release His people from bondage to worship Him. God sends Moses with the help of his brother and the support of the team of Elders of the Hebrew people.  God warns Moses about Pharoah’s heart with “Moses, Pharoah will say no, but there is more to come that I will do to make this happen.”  Step by step, God will lead Moses as Moses leads His people back to Him.

Sometimes I wonder if we quit when it gets hard before God makes it better. And sometimes I wonder if we assume what God wants without asking Him?

Exodus 5

Bricks Without Straw

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

² Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

³ Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

⁴ But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” ⁵ Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”

⁶ That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: ⁷ “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. ⁸ But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹ Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

¹⁰ Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. ¹¹ Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’” ¹² So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. ¹³ The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” ¹⁴ And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?”

¹⁵ Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? ¹⁶ Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”

¹⁷ Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ ¹⁸ Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”

¹⁹ The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” ²⁰ When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, ²¹ and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

God Promises Deliverance

²² Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? ²³ Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God calls, equips, and sends each one of us into the fire of deceit that rages by the Enemy against God and His created daily.  We must ask ourselves; do we really believe God?  Do we really believe all God says as really real? What we believe, truly believe from the center of our being will be displayed in our daily responses to God and others.  Sometimes when the going get tough the tough get obnoxious.

Instead of going to Pharaoh to complain, the foremen should have gone to Moses and Aaron and suggested that they summon the elders and have a prayer meeting to remind themselves of the promises God had given Israel and claimed them by faith. What a difference that would have made for them and for their leaders! Alas, during the next forty years, complaining about God’s will and criticizing God’s leaders would be characteristic of the people of Israel; but are God’s people much different today?

God has given us a work to do with purpose.  First is requires believing and surrendering to Jesus in grateful humility; knowing what He did to save us becomes our hope and our blessed assurance as we listen and move on God’s command to help others escape and be rescued by Jesus.

God uses the Rescued to guide others who need rescued from the slavery of sin to being set free by Jesus.  It is by believing in the rescue of Jesus that we can come boldly to God!  The bonus is eternal life beginning with an intimate loving, growing relationship with God upon believing in Jesus.  Because the Enemy of God hates seeing believers on their knees, praying in Jesus Name—so life will get worse before it gets better.  Trust the process that actually serves to build and solidify our faith!

Paul explains our call from God:

“Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. ¹⁵ He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

¹⁶ So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ²¹ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:

Learn from Moses who is learning!  Faced with fierce, unexpected anger, Moses did what all spiritual leaders must do when the going is tough: He took his burden to the Lord and honestly talked to Him about the situation. It’s easy to see that Moses was disappointed and distressed. He blamed God for the way Pharaoh was mistreating the Israelites, and he accused Him of doing nothing. “Why did You send me?” he asked. In other words, “Are You going to keep Your promises to me or not?”

God’s chosen servants must expect opposition and misunderstanding, because that’s part of what it means to be a leader; and leaders must know how to get alone with God, pour out their hearts, and seek His strength and wisdom. Spiritual leaders must be bold before people but broken before God and must cling to God’s promises and do His will even when everything seems to be against them.

Lord,

We repent of quitting to soon when the going gets tough and scary.  But it is in these times that we can grow closer to you as we seek your will and plan for each moment in time on our journey.  Thank you for being with us always. Thank you for wisdom to know when to go and when to stay; when to speak and when to be silent and wait on you.  We know that all things work together for good for those who believe in you.

In Jesus Name, Amen