I Listened to God, and...It Got Worse??

 As I was reading my Bible this morning, I found myself in Exodus chapter 5. Moses had been called by God to go to Pharoah and tell him to let the Israelites go. It was time for God to free His people from their bondage under Pharoah's rule. Moses was afraid, and in chapters 3 and 4, he had a long conversation with the Lord about all of those fears. God specifically told Moses that he was to go to Pharoah, and He promised to be with him and help him along the way. He even sent Aaron to help Moses speak, since this was his one weakness. This was a clear call from God; Moses knew exactly what he was supposed to do, and he had promises from God to give him courage and strength.

Moses and Aaron, although afraid, were obedient. They went before Pharoah, told him that God had met with them and that Pharoah was to let the people go to make a three-day journey into the wilderness to make sacrifices to their God. What was the result? Pharoah called the people lazy, and he told his slave drivers to make the Israelites' work harder. He commanded them to stop providing the people with straw for making the bricks; instead, they were to gather their own straw but still make the same quota of bricks as before.

Wait a minute - God specifically told Moses that He would save the people from their bondage, he gave Moses specific directions for what He was supposed to do, Moses was obedient, and...things got worse for the Israelites? Moses even went to God and said, "Why, Lord, have you brought trouble on this people? Ever since I went to Pharoah to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all" (Exodus 5:22-23, NIV). Did God break His promise? Was God showing that He can't always be trusted? Absolutely not.

You see, God could have rescued the Israelites without Moses or Aaron. He doesn't need people to accomplish His plan. He chose Moses, flawed as he was, to lead the people. And when things got worse instead of better, that was all part of the plan to help Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite people grow in their faith. I know sometimes it doesn't make sense. We often think, wouldn't my faith grow if God swooped in and made difficult situations better right away? Why should I have to suffer through this trial?

That is our human way of thinking. We have to remember that God always knows better than we do. God can see the complete picture - past, present, and future - coming together to not only bring His plan to fruition, but to work for our good. It is through trials that we learn that God is faithful. It is through difficulties that we learn that God never leaves our side. It is through pain and struggle that we learn that we have a Father who we can trust.

Remember what the Israelites had to endure: slavery in Egypt, waiting for release while God poured plagues onto Egypt, facing a sea that they didn't know how to cross, and wandering in the desert for 40 years not knowing where their food and water would come from. But in all of those hardships, God provided. He protected them from the plagues and gave them the symbol of Passover, that the Blood of the Lamb would save them. He parted the Red Sea so they could cross on dry ground, but brought the sea back over the Egyptian army. He provided quail and manna for them to eat in the desert and brought water from a rock. Without the hardships, they would not have known the faithfulness of their God. And at the end of it all, a Promised Land, a land filled with milk and honey where they would receive their rest.

This journey is just like ours. We will go through times of waiting, times in which we will not know how to move forward. We will see times when it is impossible to move forward unless God steps in. We may face times when we don't know how we're going to pay the bills or sickness that we can't fight on our own. And God will be there through it all. He will show us that He is faithful. And at the end of it all, if we have received Jesus as our Savior, we will reach our Promised Land, the place that Jesus Himself has prepared for us in Heaven. 

Don't lose heart, my friend. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not the trial. He has you in the palm of His hand, and He won't let go. He has a glorious future awaiting you on the other side!