Welcome back. We are going to
continue with our discussion of the previous devotion. As we
discussed, don't be surprised when you encounter difficulties when
you start out with your new God given task. We can learn so much
from Moses when he started out to rescue the Israelites. The new
God-given path that Moses embarked upon was not so easy. In fact it
was very difficult. Not only did Pharaoh ridicule and mock Moses
and basically threw them out of his court, he even went so far as
to punish the Israelites by increasing their workload. He ordered
that the Israelites should get the straw that they use to make the
bricks themselves, instead of getting it from the Egyptians as they
were used to. This caused the Israelites to scramble for straw and
still try to make the same quota of bricks each day. Naturally they
couldn't do it and then the slave drivers became brutal and treated
them with utter contempt. The Israelite foreman immediately rushed
to Pharaoh to complain, but he simply brushed them off and ordered
them back to work. They knew it was because of Moses that they were
given a bigger load to bear and therefore the natural thing to do
now was to complain to Moses. They were very upset with him
and even asked the Lord to judge him for what he has done to them.
And what did Moses do? He in turn complained to the Lord. He wanted
to give up. "Why did you send me?" he asked.
The Lord graciously answered that
He would display His power and His might and that He would make the
Israelites His own special people. He didn't give up on Moses and
even told him to go back to the Israelites and tell them that. And
it is wonderful for me to see that Moses did just that. Even though
he was discouraged, even though he was down and out, he listened
and went back to his people. And as we might expect they didn't
listen to him. They were too discouraged by the physical abuse they
were suffering. And again what did Moses do? He complained to the
Lord again. He even started with his old excuses again that he was
not a good orator. He was truly disheartened and wanted to give up.
Everything was against him. He was a nobody, with no money, no nice
clothes, no friends, Pharaoh was treating him like a worthless
slave and to top it all off his very own people hated him and
wanted nothing to do with him. What a hopeless situation.
What we therefore can see is that
things got much worse when Moses started. Not only did Pharaoh and
all the Egyptians hate him, his very one people were turning
against him as well. They were even begging him to leave. I am sure
this was not what he expected. I mean he didn't know at that stage
that there was going to be 10 plagues and that he will successfully
lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He didn't know that he was going
to be a hero. All he could see from where he was at that moment was
that Pharaoh was not relenting (and he didn't know if he ever
will), and his own people hated him. His whole mission looked
hopeless. What a devastating situation. He therefore turned to God
again and complained to Him, wondering why he ever left his home to
follow the Lord. Why did he ever listen?
Now this may also happen to you.
You might be on a spiritual high after accepting the Lord's calling
on your life. You might be very excited to start (and you should
be), but don't be surprised when everything is not going smoothly
at the beginning. Don't be surprised when things take a turn for
the worse. It can easily happen. But whatever you do, don't run
back to where you came from. If the Lord has called you, don't
despair and look at things from a human perspective. Don't look at
the 'giants' all around you. Trust in His guidance, if He has
called you, He will let things run its course until the timing is
right to fulfill your purpose. Just don't give up. You can talk to
the Lord as Moses did, you can even complain to Him, but whatever
you do, don't give up. Look up, but don't give up!
I cannot even begin to tell you
about everything that went wrong since I received the calling from
the Lord to write this devotion as well as my books (maybe I will
write about it someday). Numerous things went wrong, one after the
other! I even kept track of it in a diary. And naturally I started
doubting that I heard the Lord correctly. I started doubting in His
calling for me. I became very discouraged and wanted to give up. I
complained to the Lord and I asked Him to take all this hindrances
away from me. But you know what, even though the circumstances were
bleak and unpromising, the Lord didn't take the hindrances away,
but He gave me the strength to continue. Whenever I despaired He
gave me rest and before I knew it I was busy again with what He
wanted me to do. I couldn't help it. Before I knew what I was doing
I was writing again. And step by step I grew closer to what His
calling for me is. I haven't nearly reached it yet, but step by
step I look up to Him and know that my victory will come.
Hindrances will always be there, but the Lord also. He will help me
past them all, to go where I need to be.
Lord Jesus, please help us not to
give up. Help us to look up to You and trust You with our lives.
Only You would be able to guide us. Amen