Pastor Kyle continues that pleasing God occasionally means disappointing people. Confronting Pharaoh as God instructed caused a negative backlash on Moses by the Israelites in Egypt even though God sent him to eventually set them free; things had to get worse before they got better. Sometimes, we have to disappoint people in order to please God. Disappointment over time turns into lasting hurt. Exodus 6:9 tells us that Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
People with a broken spirit, who have been subjected to really harsh conditions for relay long periods of time are very unlikely to hear the truth and less likely to receive the truth, even if it is good news. Hurt people hurt people and Moses was the object of the Israelites anger. Ultimately, we all have to make the choice ourselves to choose healing when we are hurting. The only way that Pharaoh was going to let God’s people go was by a hard path ahead for him and his people. The Israelites had to endure this harsh ride while God while it happened in real time. 1 Peter 4:12-13 says “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” Every decision these days seems to be more challenging and stressful. If we have to disappoint someone to please God, may we do it from a position of compassion and empathy. And if we are the ones receiving disappointment, may we receive it with compassion for the person delivering it to us.
Exodus 6:1-13 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. So, the Lord said to Moses, “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
God promises to Moses and reassures him that He is going to deliver His people and take them into the Promised Land. Hold onto hope because God is working even when we are not understanding. Though Moses digressed into self-doubt, so God reassured Moses that everything was going to plan, moving forward exactly as it was supposed to. Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves to truth in what the Lord is doing and not in what we can do. If God puts us to it, He will see us through it. God reminds us that we are not alone, and that it is not our strength, but God’s strength that gets us through to the other side. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20b “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” But, God’s presence does mean that we shall get immediate results.
We live in a “microwave generation” that wants everything in a nanosecond, where we get whatever we want, whenever we want and wherever we want now, but God does not work like that. God is working when feel that He is silent. God is close when we feel that He is distant. God has a plan in the works when it feels like ours is not quite working out. Today, we all need to look up and hold onto hope, having the faith that is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Maybe, we are not embracing what God is telling us during the 2020 season of struggles, hardships and upheavals. We must not be like the Israelites that, because of their hardships, spent their whole lives grumbling and missed the Promised Land. They missed the hope that they wanted to see their whole lives. Hope is always right around the corner and we must hold onto God and trust that He is in control and working all things for good, even when we are not understanding. Work to heal the hurt and find the “good” in this difficult season which we are enduring, trusting in the unseen Almighty God, creator of Heaven and Earth.
Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Christians need to stand firm, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Know that sometimes things need to get worse before they get better, but the “good news” is that God has given us the “right” armor for the battle. God never promised that there wouldn’t be a fight. He wouldn’t equip us with armor if there was not going to be a battle. God says: In the fight for souls, stay ready, keep your armor on and maintained, preserver through it, I will make you victorious and see you safely through to the other side. We are in a battle and need to stand firm. Stand firm in God.
In Christ, Brian
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