When Things Are Still Bad

In a Peanut’s cartoon Lucy and Linus were sitting in front of the television set when Lucy said to Linus, "Go get me a glass of water." Linus looked surprised, "Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me." "On you 75th birthday," Lucy promised, "I’’ll bake you a cake." Linus got up, headed to the kitchen and said, "Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to." Well there’s a lot of truth in that!

Life does throw a lot of things at you…and sometimes the journey can be pretty tough…things can get pretty bad.

Ever feel like everything is against you…one of those horrible, terrible, no good days? Seems like life is against you - but something happened that gave you a glimmer of hope things were about to change, get better…but pretty soon the glimmer of hope was shattered.

In Exodus 5 we find such a time in the nation of Israel. They’ve been in their Egyptian bondage for a very long time…things were pretty bad…being slaves was no fun…they had cried out to God for deliverance for a very long time…and finally a deliver showed up on the scene. MOSES! Talk about a glimmer of hope! Pick up with me in Exodus 5:19-23 …

Exodus 5:19–23 NASB95

The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble because they were told, “You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks.” When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were waiting for them. They said to them, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? “Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”

Things had started to turn – Moses and Aaron were on the scene! Deliverance was imminent! But not so fast! Things actually started to get worse! And this really tested the children of Israel…and their leaders!

2 things you need to see this morning. First…

1. REALIZE GOD IS STILL AT WORK EVEN WHEN THINGS ARE STILL BAD!

- Had God left them? Changed His mind? No…He was just getting started!

- Moses…God’s man was now on the scene!

- And did the Israelites really think this was going to be easy?

- Did Moses really think this was going to be easy?

- Remember: you have an enemy and he battles you and fights you tooth and nail…and especially when he knows that God is working in your life!

- God was getting ready to do something big…something dramatic! But their enemy was going to try and make things worse…and use his weapon of discouragement.

- By the way…it was working at this point! Did you catch what they said to Moses and Aaron (verse 21)? And what Moses prayed to the Lord about (verse 22-23)?

- Talk about discouragement!

TS – Which leads to the 2nd thing I want you to see…

2. REALIZE PATIENCE AND TRUST ARE GREAT ASSETS WHEN THINGS ARES STILL BAD!

- What would’ve happened if Moses and Aaron at this point would’ve said, “Well, it was a good try but it’s just not working out…Pharaoh’s not listening…look at how things have actually gotten worse…and had left?”

- Look at Exodus 6:1-8 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.” God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, 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 sojourned. “Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. “Say, therefore, to the sons 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 their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the bur…” …

- We find out in verse 9 that the children of Israel didn’t want to hear it! They were despondent…things were bad…and getting worse by the minute! Exod. 6:9 “So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.”

- But Moses and Aaron exercised great patience and trust in God!

- And well the rest of Exodus 6-14 details the story of how God poured out His power, kept His promise, and delivered His people…and made things good!

Conclusion

When things are still bad… What are you going to do? Quit? Give up? Throw in the towel? Give up on God?

What is the key? To realize the importance of patience and trust…yes even (especially) when things are still not working out the way you think they should or want them to!

The story is told about a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time his throat became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over to the shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note. The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first nothing happened and he got a little scared but he kept going and water started coming out. So much water came out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed. Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveler.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note: “Please prime the pump, believe me it works”!

That man trusted the note!

So the next time things are bad…what are you going to do?

When they are STILL bad…what are you going to do?

TRUST GOD!