Exodus 5

Exodus 5

Moses did exactly what God told him to do. He went to Pharaoh, asked him to release God’s people and in return, Pharaoh refused to release the Hebrews and made their work even more demanding. Imagine the discouragement Moses must have felt. Why didn’t God do what He said He was going to do?

Our minds are linear. We like to have a plan. “If I do well in high school, then I will get accepted into the college of my dreams.” “If I work really hard at my job then I will get the promotion I want.” “If I do _________ my outcome will be __________.” We so subtly map out our lives, that it can be easy for us to apply this ABC thinking to God’s plan for our lives. “If I do what God tells me, then things will work out the way I want them to.”

Isaiah 55 says, “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways.’ Declares the Lord.” Obedience to God does not give us a free pass from suffering or promise us that life will look the way we want it. When we experience suffering while obeying the Lord, it’s not that we’ve fallen out of His favor. Just like Isaiah says in the verse above, God’s ways are not like ours. Our view of right and wrong is different, and that’s a good thing. God is Holy, He cannot sin against us. He’s powerful, He’s everlasting and He is after His own glory. God can be trusted with our well being because He loves us more than we can fathom.

From the beginning God has had a plan for redemption. Each story in the old testament leads up to the miraculous birth of Christ, the one who would crush the serpent's head and set God’s people free. God promised He would bring salvation and God always keeps His promises. If you are familiar with the Exodus story, you know that God eventually does free His people in a miraculous and powerful way, revealing His power to Pharaoh. Obedience may bring suffering for a short time,  but as Paul says in His letter to the Corinthians, although we may be hard pressed on every side,we are not not crushed; we may be perplexed, but not in despair; we may be persecuted, but not abandoned; we may be struck down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). When obedience leads us down a difficult path, we can trust in our God who is making all things new. 

Is there something God has been asking you to do that you’ve been avoiding?

What’s one thing you can do this week to step out in obedience?