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- Message: Reading Exodus 5 felt like such a familiar parallel to times in my life. When the tribe leaders of Israel met with Moses and Aaron they were promised freedom. They had been crying out to God a long time and God had finally sent someone to deliver them. I can’t imagine how elated they were with anticipation. This generation of Israel had never known freedom in their entire lifetime and it seemed that they were right on the edge of seeing it. But after Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh, he became enraged and instead of freeing them he punished them for crying for it. He increased the demand on them and enforced greater punishment. The people were frustrated and defeated. They were angry at Moses and they were angry at God.
- Command: Focus on working hard while waiting for the miracle.
- Promise: There is something bigger than me in this and it will be worth it.
- Warning: Defeat and depression can set in if I focus on the people and the circumstances but miss the bigger picture.
- Application: What I really identify with in this story is going from a place of accepting circumstances as they have always been to actually daring to entertain the idea of freedom and change. The excitement and anticipation of a miracle before the rug is pulled out from you, and then watching helplessly as things go from bad to worse. It’s so defeating and it’s easy to become so consumed with defeat that you go into depression. In fact, I have personally gone from seasons of depression to seasons of stubborn fight. It’s emotionally exhausting but there has to be a focus on something more constant than the situation. We’ve all heard the terrible quote “things will get worse before they get better”. This is often true but the most important thing I have to remind myself is that my comfort is not the main point. It’s not that God doesn’t care about my comfort. It’s that he is a master at using situations to benefit and teach more people than just myself. I’m suffering, but I’m still not the main point. This is a tough pill to swallow but it also helps to keep me focused on God and not my circumstance.
