Do All Things Happen for a Reason?

Introduction

Exodus 5:22–6:7 NKJV

22 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.” 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. 4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Prayer

Message

Have you heard this comment before, OR, have you made this comment before?

“all things happen for a reason.”

I will admit I have made this statement before.

We have all heard that statement over our lives and I am sure at some point or another maybe even you have made that statement.

Is that statement true?

We attempt to bring comfort to people with such a statement at a funeral or in times of attempting to bring consolation. But let me ask you a simple question. Do you believe that statement holds true when Israel is God’s people and the holocaust happened? Do you believe that statement is true when COVID-19 killed 6.9 million people? Interesting thought.

We know that in the case of Job in the Bible that God did not cause everything that happened in the life of Job, but Scripture does reveal that He allowed tragedies to happen.

Job 1:8-12 “8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” 9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”

We know that in the case in John 9:1-3 “1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”

As we understand the Doctrine of Providence and Sovereignty

Providence-”Foresight, however, implies more than seeing in advance. It also implies anticipation, so that steps are taken either to meet a need which is seen or to lead to a result which is envisaged or planned.”

G. W. Bromiley, “Providence,” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 1020.

We think of omniscience and omnipotence, both all knowing and all powerful to bring under control anything that is happening.

We marry that doctrine to the doctrine of Sovereignty.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Sovereign; Sovereignty)

The Aram malḵû is most often translated “kingdom” (e.g., Dnl. 2:37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44), and it represents “kingdom” in the senses of both a sovereign government and the power held by that government.

Big Subject and I must move on. We know from the Genesis account that sin brought death. We know that sin caused physical death in the life of all living creatures. We know that the serpent tempted Adam and Eve and they yielded to that temptation and the adamic nature has been our demise ever since. And that single act birthed tragedy upon tragedy as a curse due to the sin of fallen man.

The Good News is we will learn today is that somethings happen for a reason. And by that blessed text we read in :

Recite Romans 8:28 with me.

Romans 8:28 NKJV

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

We learn that God can use all things for His purpose. Specifically God can take all things and cause them to turn out for His good. Amen.

We see it spelled out in God’s Word today in the life of Moses and the life of Israel that in life circumstances God does cause things to happen to bring glory to Him. As we gain comfort from Romans 8:28 we can be assured that God can teach us something through all things that happens in our lives. He can take the worst of tragic happenings and He can teach us, grow us, and bless us even in the worst of times.

In today’s text:

We see a pilgrimage unfolding both in the life of Moses and the people of Israel as we get to our text this morning. Firstly, we see that Moses is not the stalwart of a leader in his infancy of the journey as he will become as he leads Israel and grows in his faith and trust in Yahweh God. We see recorded on the parchment of the Scriptures that Moses was a work in progress in growing and maturing into the man of God we know him to have been. Aren’t you glad you are not the same person you were when God originally came in your life? Hopefully we grow in Him in each passing day.

In the earlier chapters Moses made every excuse as to why he was not capable of leading Israel, “who am I that Pharoah would listen to me?, ” “I am no eloquent of speech.” Yet, the Lord with grace and patience guided him to the point of obedience in the beginning of Chapter 5 and Moses got up the nerve to do what the Lord had asked him to do.

Now this can be one of the toughest hurdles to get beyond in our spiritual pilgrimage when we are obedient and yet everything we are doing brings greater difficulty, tragedy, and hardship in our lives and the lives about us. This is what happened to Moses and the people of Israel.

Somethings do not turn out as we would hope. In fact, there are times we are doing as God would have us to and everything turns out disastrous.

Ill. Man informs management of defrauding or embezzling funds of a coworker.

Mother carries kids to church and they turn against God and distance themselves from her.

Woman witnesses to neighbor.

Moses confronted Pharoah and asked that the people go into the wilderness for three days and worship the Lord. Not only did Pharoah say no to the request but He caused the taskmasters to make them double up production, but without straw. The Israelites had to produce double the amount in a day and on top of that, gather the straw themselves to meet the double production.

It goes without saying, all the Israelites were upset they were not meeting the demands of their taskmasters, and everyone was infuriated with Moses. Moses did exactly what God had asked him to do and that is where we find ourselves in our text this morning.

Let me bring us back down on the ground and reemphasize our objective today. Do all things happen in this life for a reason? Somethings happen in this life for a reason. In all things God can teach us something, we can mature, we can grow and we will see that our relationship will deepen with God as we see His mighty hand in our lives.

Let’s assume this morning that you are at a time when you feel as if you are walking circumspectly with the Lord. You are honoring Him with those things He calls on you to do, you are consistent in reading His Word, you are praying, you are active here in the local church, in other words you have not forsaken the fellowship of the Saints, you are tithing and giving back to Him as He has graciously given to you, you are honoring the life He sets out for a Christian. And yet, it seems you are dealing with much difficulty, much sorrow, much hurt, many problems. What do you do? What did Moses do?

Question God over Your Anger, Anxiousness and Annoyances vv. 5:22-23

Exodus 5:22-23 “22 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.””

One of the first knee jerk reactions that we do in life when difficulty and hardship comes upon us is we begin the blame game, blame shifting. We pass the buck, everything that is happening in our life is because of someone else, we have absolutely nothing to do with it.

We attempt to justify what is happening to us and place the blame elsewhere.

Exodus 5:20-21 “20 Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.””

IN this case, Moses and Aaron had been obedient to God’s request.

The Israelites blamed Moses and Aaron for everything that was happening to them.

Exodus 5:4-5 “4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!””

Pharoah blamed Moses for causing the people to be idle. Why do you fill their heads with this silliness. They need to get back to work. This is all your fault.

Let me say something at this point.

Moses exposed a sinful nature in His interaction with God.

Moses sinned because we know that we can commit sins of the heart, but Moses sinned in the best way. He sinned to God. Moses did not allow his aggravations, anger, and frustration go beyond himself and God. And I will remind you that every sin we ever commit is ultimately to God.

Psalms 51:4“4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight—

Ephesians 4:26-27 “26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.”

One of the ways that we can quickly sin in our anger is by sharing or influencing others with our attitudes.

Everything about Moses response blamed God for all that was happening to him and the people of Israel. Moses wanted to blame shift what was happening in his life and in the life of Israel. Oh dearly beloved, that is the most dangerous ground to step upon is to blame God for every bad thing that has ever happened in your life.

Firstly, we must realize that we face issues in life due to our own actions called sin.

Secondly, we face issues based upon the fall of man, a sinful world in general.

And we see that God allows things to happen to teach us something about God.

Are you questioning God today? Return to God. We do not know if Moses went back to Mt. Horeb in a physical presence as before or if he entered into prayer with God. All we know is that He went to God.

Start there. Be honest and we see here that Moses was brutally honest. Pour yourself out to the Lord. Lord, I am attempting to follow you. I am not perfect but I have truly tried. I am reading my Bible. I am praying. I am attending church as much as possible with work. I’m trusting you as I give my offering each week and Lord things are tight, but I am trusting your promises and why is it that things seem tougher than ever?

Lord, please reveal to me what you are doing? Lord, please show me what you are trying to teach me? Lord, please give me some insight where we are going together? I need some oxygen, I need some encouragement, Lord, I need your blessing.

Pour it all out to Him. Moses took his discouragement privately to God in prayer.

Josiah

2 Kings 23:25 “25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.”

Asa

2 Chronicles 15:1-4 “1 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; 4 but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.”

Query God’s Actions v. 6:1-5

Exodus 6:1 “1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.””

God said Moses I hear you. Aren’t you so glad God is long suffering, patient, and shows each of us much grace? The Lord was patient with Moses and he heeded Moses words and answered to Moses comments.

He said to Moses, watch me at work. Watch what I will do to Pharoah. “For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of the land.” Moses, show patience. Allow time for me to reveal myself in a greater way. I want my people truly hungry for change.

Exodus 6:2-3 “2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them.”

There are no mistakes in the Word of God. Moses could have thought to himself as he remembered the Lord communicating to him in Exodus 3:15

Exodus 3:15 “15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’”

Jehovah-Lord, God Almighty-El Shadaii

You remember that names in the Bible reveal attributes of someone in the Bible.

The people of Israel that were enslaved since the time of Joseph had not been exposed to the power of God in their lives.

Dearly beloved, I hope we do not act in a way as a people a church that God doesn’t reveal Himself in a greater way and He waits 400 years for us.

Our revival is September 10-13. Heath Harrelson will be bringing the messages and Jared Truitt will be leading us in worship. Would you pray as what was mentioned here in the text that we would see God in a fresh and new and deeper way.

God was going to reveal Himself in a greater way. “I was not known to them.” God wanted to make Himself known to them in a special way and God wants to make Himself known to you. He wants you to see His handiwork in your life.

The word “query” is a computer word that means to sort or filter for certain information. God calls you to be on watch for His actions in your life in all that you experience.

Ill. Look with me where I walk on the treadmill in the mornings. I am looking out a glass window on a hill in Wetumpka that over looks 231 Hwy and down the hill at the road close to Russell Do It in Wetumpka. When I look out I see a hedgerow, I see the parking lot, the cars and people coming and going in the parking lot, I see the fence line of the YMCA property, I see a tree line that borders 231 on the West side of 231, I see another treeline that is the west side of the Coosa River, and I see a haze on certain days of a treeline that is in Elmore, Millbrook, or West Wetumpka.

I mention that to say that if we are not guilty, all we see is a hedgerow, a blockade to life in the things we are wanting to accomplish because we are short sighted in our thinking and interpretations of life and thinking in the immediacy. Listen to me, God is at work in our lives in the parking lot, at the fence line, at the first tree line, the second tree line, and beyond as it relates to both the time lines and the areas of territory of our lives. We can not be guilty of paying attention to what is only happening right in front of our faces.

God is at work in your life answering your prayers, your concerns, your requests, your dreams but He answers, yes, He answers no, He answers later, He answers “you are not ready,” “He answers “that is not best for you., I have something greater.”

It is so blatantly obvious as we read of the life of Moses that he was not ready to complete what God wanted to do in him, through him, and in the life of Israel. He did not have the spiritual fortitude and maturity to accept opposition, to deal with rocks in the roads of life. God uses life as His teaching ground. Life grows us in the Lord. We become more dependent, we grow to trust, we grow to know of His power, we grow in our love for the milestones He makes in our lives and we celebrate His workings in our lives.

Ill. Life is funny. “I pottied.” We can be like spiritual babes and our journey is a growing process.

Are you only looking in your immediacy and see struggle or do you try to have God eyes to see where He is at work and where He is blessing and where He is causing change to happen?

God simply stated in verse 2 that I am the God of the Past. I have not changed. In verse 4, I am the God of promise. I keep my promises. Now in a gracious way God is challenging Moses as He challenges us. Are you going to keep your promises? Are you going to be found faithful? Are you going to stay the course?

And I ask you dear church. Are you going to be found faithful when life becomes uncertain? Are you going to pray and read and walk circumspectly when events are not falling out as you think they should? Will you continue to love the Lord when life for no apparent reason seems very unlovely?

He told Moses listen Moses, I am the God of the Past, I am the God of Promise and I am the God that knows your pain.

Read verse 5 with me:

Exodus 6:5 “5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.”

Psalms 105:8 “8 He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,”

Quest for God’s Answers to Life vv. 6-7

Exodus 6:6-7 “6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

Hang on Moses, hang on Aaron, I know you have trusted me. I know you are out of your comfort zone. I know what I am asking you to do is to travel the uncharted waters of life. I know your stomach is in knots and you are fearfully following. I get it. Israel I know it has been 400 years of enslavement. I know it has been a long time. I know you can’t wait for change. I know you are hungry for something different.

But, wait on me. Waiting can be sweet because the victory is all the more surreal. God sometimes waits to wow you. I think sometimes God waits so that we exhaust every alternative to know that only God can bring about great change.

God wanted to be the one to save Israel and it is the same God that wants to save you. God wanted to use Moses to bring salvation to Israel. And you talk about patience, God sent His Son over 2,000 years ago to Bethlehem to sacrifice His life for yours. God wants to save you today. He wants your life to change. He wants you to face life with a friend in Jesus.

Let’s pray.