What if things get worse, not better, after you answer God’s call?
By Dean Collins
What do you do if God gives you an assignment and then your life or the situation become decidedly more difficult?
I know I’m not the only one who has experienced this. And you are not, either. But when you experience this challenge, you are in good company and probably right where you are supposed to be. I’m not saying you will like what you’re facing, but you can have great confidence that God has neither stopped working nor abandoned you.
I have decades of personal experience to confirm what I’ve said here, and while some of my stories may be helpful or interesting , the bigger confirmation of this truth is found repeatedly in God’s Word. The most familiar example is in Exodus. Chapters 5 and 6 give us a clear reminder of the tension we often have felt as we sought to do God’s will.
A battle of wills
It was a battle of wills, yet Moses finally chose to move beyond his objections and excuses and finally obey God. His story demonstrates that accepting God’s assignment doesn’t make everything suddenly easy. Moses and Aaron did as God directed. They were comforted that the children of Israel had bought into and believed the plan they had shared from God. But immediately Pharaoh does two things. First, he makes it clear he doesn’t believe in Jehovah God. And second, he refuses to obey. This drove a wedge between Moses and his followers.
In fact, Pharaoh’s anti-God reaction made things significantly harder for both the oppressed Hebrew people and for Moses. The Hebrews were forced now to gather their own straw for making bricks but keep production at the same level, even though the straw-gathering would take extra time and threaten output. Their leaders were beaten physically to show the people that Pharaoh was serious. It didn’t take long for Moses to see that now he had opposition from both the powerful and the powerless.
A cry to God
And here we see the most important thing to do when you find yourself stuck in the middle. Go and tell God directly. And don’t hold back. Give him all your complaints. Here is exactly what Moses said to God as he faced this major leadership crisis:
“O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”
It’s an honest outcry, and Moses didn’t hold back. He questioned God for sending him into this mess, for doing evil instead of good, and for failing to deliver the Hebrew nation from oppression at the hand of Pharaoh.
God didn’t flinch at the tone or words of Moses. While he understood the frustration of Moses, he knew that Moses had forgotten or never really understood God’s sovereignty or that God always keeps his promises. We can certainly relate. I will be the first to confess that I don’t fully comprehend or understand God’s sovereignty even as I believe that he is sovereign. And time and time again I’ve seen evidence that God keeps his promises.
As chapter 6 opens, God responds to Moses and his complaints: “Now you will see what I will do.” Moses, like us, might continue to struggle with understanding, but he would see “what God will do” if he continued to watch and wait. We can see this too.
A plan to follow
God proceeded to do a remedial lesson on being a promise maker and a promise keeper. “I will take you to be my people,” God reminded Moses, “and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’”
He then directed Moses to follow the plan. “Go tell Pharaoh to let my people go.” Immediately Moses defaulted to both of his earlier confessions to God. He told God that his inadequacy of speech and his sinful nature were barriers to his success.
I’m guessing you have told God the same. I tell him regularly that I don’t have the intelligence or skills to do my job. And I mean it every time. And every time the same voice calmly says back to me, “I know. That’s why you’re perfect for this assignment. Now trust me and keep seeking and following. I’ll do the heavy lifting.”
Watch and wait
I believe Moses was supposed to do the same thing we are supposed to do: Watch God and wait on him. The first is the easier of the two. We have all seen God’s handiwork and his daily work. When we step back and see what God has done already, both in history and for us personally, we are amazed and almost always well up with gratitude.
But waiting on God for the next thing, for the solution for the current challenge as well as his resolution of all the tragedy in the world, is hard and yet essential. Waiting on God is both our best defense and offense. And it is the ultimate declaration that we understand we are, in fact, neither God nor in charge. It is in these moments that God smiles at our faithfulness. Blessings follow obedience even as we experience suffering.
So if you find yourself trying to do God’s work with what appear to be limited resources of both time and money, keep watching and waiting. It could be that God is just about to make a big move.
Your time with God’s Word
Exodus 5:1-5, 9, 14-18, 20-23; Exodus 6:1, 3-9, 11-13, 26-30 ESV
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