Pink Kitchens And Brown BricksSample

Where do you turn when you hurt?

One of the most important decisions we make when we experience great difficulty is where to turn for help. Is there a number on your phone that represents a spiritual or emotional 911? When the Israelites were burdened with making bricks without straw, they amazingly turned to their oppressor for help instead of turning to God. Three times they referred to themselves as Pharaoh’s servants, not God’s.

When you go through difficult days, when cold water is tossed on your burning-bush plan, when you’re not sure anymore what God’s will might be, that is the best time to get on your knees and say, “Lord, I turn to You. I am Your servant. I want to glorify You with everything I have.”

The people wrongly turned to Pharaoh; but Moses turned to God. There is no better place for us to turn when things are tough than to our all-powerful, all-giving God. Hard times should be our cue to say, “God, You are Lord, and I am Your servant. I will go through the fire if You want me to. I’m going to stay on my knees trusting You all the way”.

“[The leader] must be one who, while welcoming the friendship and support of all who can offer it, has sufficient resources to stand alone even in the face of fierce opposition in the discharge of his responsibility. He or she must be prepared to have no one, but God”¹ (J. Oswald Sanders).

Notice that God did not explain Himself to Moses, instead He told him what He was about to do: “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”.

If Moses had gone to Pharaoh instead of to God, he would likely have heard just what the Israelites did: “You are lazy, lazy people.” Pharaoh saw their desire to be free and worship their God as laziness. He equated their worth in terms of the number of bricks they were able to produce. But God equated their worth with their desire to worship Him. He wants us to know that our desire for Him is not laziness. To the self-reliant, faith will seem lazy; but not to God.

Note
1. J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1994), p. 174.