Where to Turn When Life Gets Hard
Notes
Transcript
{Intro}
Moses has this transforming encounter with God on Mount Horeb that just shatters all of his preconceived notions about himself and about who God is...
And while Moses is there on this mountain he hears God call him to a ridiculous task…I mean its just bonkers.
God tells Moses…I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt…and I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know bout their sufferings, and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from the land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with mild and honey—
And then God says something to Moses that he never would have expected…he says,
And because the Israelites cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharoah so that you may lead my people, the Israelites out of Egypt.
Moses, though, is understandably reluctant.
He knows that he isnt qualified for this job. And he makes his case to God for why God needs to send someone else.
But God tells Moses that he will go with him…and that though he will harden Phaoroah’s heart, eventually God promises Moses that He will make his efforts successful, but only after God displays His power toward Pharoah.
And so that Moses has some assurance, God gives him three signs:
The sign of the Serpent—
The Sign of Skin Disease :
Sign of the Nile Turning into Blood:
All of these signs were communicating to Moses that it was indeed Yahweh who was sovereign over the kings and kingdoms of the world.
Pharoah and Egypt were not in charge.
God is the ruler of the Serpant King…God is the ruler of disease and sickness, God is the ruler of the very source of life in Egypt, the Nile.
God was showing Moses that He was in charge…not Pharoah. And therefore, God was telling Moses that He would employ him and empower him to accomplish the mission that he had given him.
And so after Moses sees all of these signs…He says to himself “well…I guess were doing this...” And he sets out to do what God has called him to do...
So we read…in Exodus 4:28-31
He and Aaron go... and they assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeated everything the LORD had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. The people believed, and when they heard that the LORD had paid attention to them and that he had seen their misery, they knelt low and worshiped.
Revival broke out…thats what happened...
At the end of Exodus 4, Moses and all the Israelites are on top of the mountain…Moses and the Israelites are encouraged, they are excited, they are worshipping and praising God’s name!
But in the matter of no time…by the end of Exodus 5, Moses and all the Israelites are at the bottom of the valley…they are discouraged, they are disappointed, they feel dejected and defeated...
Remember when I told you a few weeks back that as we study the story of Exodus there will be moments when we see our story? This is one of those moments…
See this is real life...
life is made up of highs and lows, isn't it?
There are moments in our life where we feel like we are on the top of the mountain. Like life just couldnt get any better. We come to faith…we get excited. We start following hard after the things of God…and man, life just couldnt get better…things are looking up…These moments are real..
Then…there are moments in life, no matter how strong our faith is, where we are going to find ourselves dejected, discouraged, and defeated…
Sometimes all it takes is one unexpected conversation…one unexpected phone call…sometimes it doesn't even take a whole conversation. Sometimes all it takes is one unexpected or unanticipated word…and boom…
Someone we love passes away...
It happens when you lose a job...
It happens when you get a diagnoses that you never thought you hear...
we can go from blessing and Praising God…to cursing God…We go from the top of the mountain…to the bottom of the valley.
You see, there are moments in life…when we are going to face discouragement…and this morning I want us to see some truths about discouragement from this text:
3 Truths To Remember About Discouragement
Obedience does not make us immune to discouragement.
Obedience does not make us immune to discouragement.
Obedience does not always mean that everything in life will go smoothly
Obedience does not always mean that everything in life will go smoothly
There is a whole counterfeit version of Christianity out there that teaches that if you just obey and have enough faith, then God will make your life prosper. But this is just false...
Obedience and courageous faith does not make us immune to discouragement.
You see, this is the hard lesson that Moses learned in this passage.
1 Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.” 2 But Pharaoh responded, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” 3 They answered, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, or else he may strike us with plague or sword.” 4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your labor!” 5 Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from their labor.” 6 That day Pharaoh commanded the overseers of the people as well as their foremen, 7 “Don’t continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers—that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words.” 10 So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am not giving you straw. 11 Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’ ” 12 So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The overseers insisted, “Finish your assigned work each day, just as you did when straw was provided.” 14 Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “Why haven’t you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?” 15 So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way? 16 No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault.” 17 But he said, “You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks.”
Moses and Aaron did what God commanded them to do. They went to Pharoah and they said, “Thus says the LORD...” just ask God had told them to do...
But do things go well? Does Pharoah do what they were telling him to do? No, they dont. In fact, not only do things not get better, they actually get worse, a lot worse. Pharoah mocks Moses and the people of Israel, then he tells them that they are lazy, and then he punishes them for requesting to go into the wilderness by by making them gather their own straw on top of meeting their typical quota of bricks that was previously required of them.
They obey…and life gets harder…not easier.
Things get worse…not better.
And understandably…they are discouraged...
You can get a sense of the discouragement that they people feel in verse 19:
19 The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You cannot reduce your daily quota of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them. 21 “May the Lord take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek to Pharaoh and his officials—putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”
The People of Israel blame Moses and Aaron…they wish judgement on them.
(Just as an aside…when you are discouraged…resist the temptation to take it out on someone else…you being hurt doesn't gives you permission to hurt someone else…and it will only make things worse.)
Moses is discouraged too…look at his prayer in verse 22:
22 So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me? 23 Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has caused trouble for this people, and you haven’t rescued your people at all.”
What does all of this teach us?
Here it is: Obedience doesnt make us immune to discouragement.
It was obedience that led Joseph to be mistreated by Potiphar...
It was obedience that lead Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedniggo to be thrown into the firey furnace in Daniel 3.
It was obedience that lead John the Baptist to be imprisoned.
Dont believe the lie that God owes you when you obey...
You might think to yourself…well thats not fair…let me just remind you…God is not fair…and you better be glad that He isnt...
If God only treated me fairly…then what I would get is eternity separated from Him in hell. And so would you...
You see, there was only one good person that bad things happened to…his name was Jesus…and he volunteered for that role.
God isnt fair…but He is good…and He is gracious...
So remember this…Obedience does not always make us immune to discouragement…but it does put us in a position to trust God in the process.
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Ignorance (to God’s word) always makes discouragement worse.
It’s important to remember in this story that God had already told Moses what was going to happen when he went to Pharoah.
Exodus 4:21–22 (CSB)
21 The Lord instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won’t let the people go.
Moses had been told clearly exactly what God was going to do when he got before Pharaoh. God told Moses that he would harden Pharoah’s heart. In fact, God had told Moses this two times.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ 18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
God had already told Moses exactly what was going to happen…Moses should be aware. He should be saying to himself: “Okay…this is exactly what God said would happen...”
But Moses was being ignorant in the truest sense of the word. He hadn't remembered what God had clearly told him that he would do.
And we need to be careful of waging our finger at Moses. Because the reality is that we are often ignorant of God’s word in our life when we are discouraged.
We—like Moses— forget that God has a purpose to times of discouragement:
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
Seasons of discouragement serve a good purpose…God uses them to refine us, strengthen us, and prepare us for season that are to come.
We—Like Moses—forget that we have hope in the face of discouragement:
John 16:32–33 (CSB)
32 Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world.
But take heart! I have conquered the world.”
We must not ignore what God has said…we must remember what God has said…and we must remind ourselves of what God has said in His word…because ignorance always…ALWAYS…makes discouragement worse...
God is always working a bigger plan than we can see.
And that purpose was to show the Israelites that he alone was the one that could save them.
Genesis & Exodus (Pharaoh’s Reaction (5:1–23))
The real problem the Hebrews had was that they did not know God, and until they did, merely delivering them out of their problems was no salvation at all. For salvation is a living, ongoing relationship with God.
To say a prayer, to bow a knee, is no guarantee of salvation.
Sure, Initial acts of commitment are vital entry points into the relationship, but individuals cannot have a relationship with someone they do not know. Salvation is not a magical transaction that takes us from being condemned in one moment to blessed in the next.
We are saved through our attachment to the living God. That attachment begins in a moment of belief in his promises and is accompanied by prostrate worship before him, but it is not the belief and worship that saves us, it is our attachment to Life, to our Father.
God was showing the people of Israel that salvation begins in a moment…but it lasts for an entire life…God desires relationship with us where we are constantly depending upon Him...
Lets read Exodus 6:1
Exodus 6:1 (CSB)
1 But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.”
Now God is acting…when the people are at their lowest of lows…when it feels like death is knocking on the door…This is when God acts...
Exodus 6:2–13 (CSB)
2 Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’ 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens. 5 Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 “Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.”
See church…when you hit rock bottom…when it doesnt feel like you can get any lower...I want you to remember something for me…when you hit rock bottom it means God is getting ready to plant the deep roots of an abiding faith in your life...
GOD IS ALWAYS WORKING A BIGGER PLAN…YOU JUST MAY NOT SEE IT YET…BUT IN 10,000 YEARS, when you look back on right now…you will…and you will rejoice.
‘the bitter seasons on earth will serve to make heaven all the more sweeter.’
And here is what this story teaches us...
Salvation is a work of God.
God is the one who delivers...
He is the one who saves...
Just as the Egyptians could not deliver themselves from the dominion of Pharoah and Egyptian slavery...
We, in our slavery to sin…cannot deliver ourselves...
YOU WILL NEVER SAVE YOURSELF FROM SIN...
You cannot do that…you will only find yourself discouraged and frustrated if you try...
You cant...
You just cant...
BUT.......God can...
And He has…from the power of sin and death in Christ.
English Standard Version Chapter 5
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
6 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.