Surviving the tough stuff: when the world is against you.

 

                     Moses 

                             The rocky path to leadership

                                       

 

The Israelites had welcomed Moses, and they worshipped God. After fifty years, God would deliver them from Pharaoh, the Hebrews’ terrorist. The Egyptians worshipped their leader, and no one dared to defy him. Yet, God was greater than Pharaoh, and the Israelites rejoiced they would soon be released from his grip.

 Moses and Aaron entered Pharaoh’s presence with God’s message.

  “Let my people hold a festival to me in the desert.”

Pharaoh had no intention of relinquishing his slaves to a foreign god.

 “Who is this Lord, demanding my obedience and release of Israel? I don’t know the Lord and I won’t let Israel go.”

 Moses gathered his courage because the Lord would speak through him. 

“The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with the sword.”

That defied Pharaoh’s building program. “Why are you distracting the people from their labour?”

 Pharaoh forced the supervisors and slave drivers to stop supplying straw for brickmaking.They usually blended it with wet clay to prevent the bricks from cracking, but this time, he was denying the Israelites extra time to gather straw.

 “You’re a lazy lot. Escape to the desert? Get cracking, and I expect my full quota in record time.”

 But when the Israelites couldn’t meet the quota, their supervisors went straight to Moses and Aaron.

 “The Lord should judge you because you’ve made us stink before Pharaoh. You’ve handed him a weapon to kill us.”

 Moses prayed. Why wasn't God helping them?

 “Ever since I went to Pharaoh, he has brought trouble and you haven’t rescued them at all.”

 While Moses’s confusion led him to accuse God, I can imagine God rubbing his hands together.

   “You’ll see what I will do to Pharaoh. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I’ve promised to give the children the land of Canaan. By my mighty hand, Pharaoh will let them go, and he will drive them from his country.”

 While we’re overwhelmed, God is charging ahead with his plans, preparing us for greater challenges. Moses and the Israelites needed a mighty victory to convince them the Almighty was on their side, and Pharaoh would be the flint to sharpen their faith. God had already warned Moses of Pharaoh’s opposition, but under pressure, he’d forgotten that. Has God called you to serve him? Do you doubt his calling? He will train you through his Holy Spirit if you're prepared to listen and accept his guidance.

When things are at their worst, our problems loom larger than God. Perhaps we can’t focus on Bible verses or prayer. Don’t despair because God is patient. He is silent, waiting until we're ready. He cares, and though his promises have faded from our consciousness, his agenda to bless us hasn't altered.

 Moses’ words failed to convince the Israelites, who only foresaw additional hardship. No one could change Pharaoh’s heart, or so they thought, and Moses complained to God again.

“If the Israelites won’t listen to me, why will Pharaoh? I’m no public speaker.”

 But God was not fazed. “I have made you like God before Pharaoh, and Aaron will be your spokesperson. I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and perform signs, wonders, and mighty judgements against him and Egypt.”

 With God’s merciful encouragement, Moses and Aaron did as God commanded and spoke to Pharaoh. At 80 and 83, the most significant years of their lives lay ahead. Every time Pharaoh refused to listen, God performed a miracle or sent a plague, from a snake to blood in the Nile, frogs, gnats, and flies. Despite that, he didn’t listen. Moses warned Pharaoh with enormous boldness that God would plague his livestock, despite Pharaoh’s or his officials’ reluctance to fear God. At God’s command, Moses tossed soot into the air before Pharaoh and his men, and they broke out in boils. They also suffered plagues of hail, locusts, destruction of their crops, and darkness over the land.

Finally, Pharaoh admitted his sin and rebellion, but as soon as God removed a plague, he fixated on the cities he wanted built and wouldn’t let the people go.

And as God promised, Moses and Aaron spoke on God’s behalf, attacking Pharaoh’s arrogant, stony heart.
 Moses’s confidence in God rose with each entrance to Pharaoh’s court. Pharaoh relented a little, and God had been faithful to his word. Each plague occurred just as God had promised. Moses could never have achieved retribution or deliverance for Israel, but God could, and judgement arrived in Egypt through Pharaoh’s refusal to obey God. Not until he understood the power of Israel’s God would he let the people go. Each plague struck closer to home. The final one attacked his throne before Moses and Aaron could lead the people out of Egypt, with the Egyptians in hot pursuit.

From humble shepherd to mighty leader, Moses grew in faith and service, each situation a lesson on the road to leadership. 

The disasters we or others create are not the end, but act as hiccups which God can transform into strength for his greater glory. Let faith in God be strengthened by perseverance. 

 Next episode, God will guide Moses as he leads the people to safety. 

                                                              Blessings.