The Story of God: When Troubles Come

One of the mythsof becoming a Christ follower is that once you begin to follow Jesus everything in your life gets better: your friendships go better, your marriage gets better, your finances get better and so on.  In fact, some pastors teach that if you come to faith in Jesus, not only will you be forgiven but you will have fewer problems in life: God will prosper you, help you pursue your dreams and everything in life will get easier. You will experience your best life now.  And although these things do occasionally happen to a fortunate few, the Bible never guarantees that you will experience a better life once you start following Jesus.

In fact, more often than not the opposite occurs.  You start following Jesus and everything starts going haywire:  The friend you thought you could always count on turns on you.  Your car breaks down.  Your work downsizes and you loose your job.  You finally get the courage to share your faith and your friends mock you.  You get sick, you get discouraged, you struggle with doubt, and you start to wonder if obeying God was such a good idea.

Sometimes following Jesus makeslife harder, not better.  Has that ever been your experience?  If it has, then I think you will see yourself somewhere in God’s story this morning. For the question is not: “Will life get hard when I follow Jesus?”  No, the question is this: “What will I do when trouble comes?”  “How will I handle life’s disappointments?”  “What will I do when things don’t go my way?”

These are the questions Moses and Aaron faced when they obeyed God and then nothing went their way. Why did that happen? And how did they respond?  Well that’s what we’re going to look at today in God’s Word.  So, if you brought a Bible with you this morning, let me encourage you to open it to Exodus 5, where we are going to see what God would have us do… when trouble comes our way.

Now as we come to this passage, let me remind you of what’s taken place.  The Pharaoh who knew not Joseph had enslaved God’s people Israel. But Israel continued to multiply and fill the land.  So Pharaoh took his disdain to the next step and decided to euthanize all the newborn Hebrew boys.  One of those boys was spared and was raised in Pharaoh’s court; Moses.  Then when Moses was 40, he saw the brutal treatment of his kin and tried to deliver one of them by killing an Egyptian.  But Israel rejected him and Pharaoh wanted him dead.  So Moses fled to the desert and lived in obscurity for the next forty years. Until the day God met Moses in a burning bush, told of His plan to deliver His people, and called Moses to return to Egypt to bring it about.  But Moses wanted no part of God’s plan and tried to weasel out of it, but God wouldn’t have it.  So God told Moses exactly what to do, what to say and who to say it to.  And finally Moses took up the staff of God, met up with Aaron, returned to Egypt and told the elders of Israel all that God had seen their suffering and was now ready to deliver them from slavery.  As a result, they believed the good news and worshiped God. So far so good.  Now emboldened by their reception in Egypt, Moses and Aaron are ready to obey God and approach Pharaoh.  Here is where we take up the story.  But here is where we see  When Obeying God Makes LifeHarder: Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”  Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”  Exodus 5:1-2

Pharaoh reveals himself here as the poster child for unbelief.  He confesses his unbelief with sneering sarcasm asking, “Who is the Lord that I should know him?”  And immediately denies that God has any claim on his life:  “I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, just like God had said.  And in the hardness of his unbelief he is not only ignorant of God’s identity, he is openly defiant to God’s authority.  In essence he is saying, “I have no idea who this God of yours is, but whoever he is, I am not going to serve him.”

But Moses and Aaron persist. Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” Exodus 5:3

Not only was Pharaoh ignorant of God and defiant of His will, but now we see are about to see a third characteristic of his unbelief: his malevolence toward God’s people. Webster defines malevolence as “intense, often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred.”  This is precisely what Pharaoh demonstrated toward the people of God: intense, vicious, and spiteful hatred.  And because of his hatred, he says to them: “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” (4-5)

Pharaoh is angry.  And now out of his spite he is going to make life far worse for Israel: That same dayPharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people:  “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require themto make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”  Exodus 5:6-9

Life just got harder.  How much harder?  Let’s read: Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw.  Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’”  So the peoplescattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?” Exodus 5:10-14

Moses did what God commanded him to do.  He went to Pharaoh and told him what God told him to say, and things didn’t get better for Israel.   These people who were already oppressed were now forced to work overtime to find the straw needed to make bricks.  They were stuck in the muck all day under a scorching sun, with few hats and even fewer water breaks.  Many surely died of exhaustion, dehydration or heat stroke.  And now with this harsh requirement they struggled to make enough bricks.  And when that happened, Pharaoh’s slave drivers began to beat the Israelite overseers. Things had gone from bad to worse – all because Moses and Aaron had obeyed God.

Has that ever happened to you?  You obeyed God and got the shaft? You obeyed God and things went from bad to worse? Look at what happened to the Porters last week.  Some crazy guy torched their van.  Could something worse happen?  Sure. But what about you?  Have you ever gotten serious about following Jesus, got involved in ministry, then bad things started happening in your life?  It’s discouraging, even disheartening.  You finally take a step of faith and then something bad happens.  Did you know that Jesus told us this would happen?

He said: “If the world hates you, keepin mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” John 15:18-20  You see, the Bible never promises that following Jesus is going to be easy.  The Bible never promises that following Jesus will make you immune to the awful problems in our fallen world.  Christians do get cancer and never recover. Christians do encounter times of serious spiritual warfare and battle with depression.  And bad things happen to us just like bad things happen to everyone.

And the question you must answer is what do you do when trouble comes?What do you do when you face discouragement?  How do you handle the bad times?

Do You Complain and Blame?  Look at Israel’s response: Then the Israelite overseerswent and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way?  Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”  Exodus 5:15-16

Well the first thing the Israelites do is go and complain to Pharaoh and figuring there must be some mistake, they place the blame on Pharaoh’s men.   What were they thinking?  Well, they were thinking like most of us think.  “We can fix this thing on our own.”  Can you see what’s going on here?  At the first sign of trouble, they ditch God’s appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron, and do an end run, thinking that if they go to their slave master, he will somehow be understanding and helpful to their plight. They go to their enemy and try to fix things rather than trust in God.  First sign of trouble they give up on God.  Wow, they have no faith at all.  And what happens?  They get nowhere: Pharaoh said, “Lazy,that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.”  Exodus 5:17

Well complaining and blaming Pharaoh’s men doesn’t work, so what do they do next?

The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.”   When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Exodus 5:19-21

What do they do when trouble comes?  They don’t just blame their leaders, they condemn them. How quickly things change.  When they first met Moses and Aaron and heard God’s promise of deliverance through them, they believed and worshiped God. Easy to do when all is going well. But now that things have gotten harder, not better, they turn on God’s leaders and condemn them.  They no longer believe God’s Word.  They’ve let their bad circumstances trump God’s promises to them. This is what happens when we let the world dictate our lives rather than the Word.

And of course, their response has an adverse effect on Moses. Moses is now discouraged.  He’s only looking at the circumstances too.  Look at Moses’ response: Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” Exodus 5:22-23   Talk about complaining.  Talk about lack of faith.  First sign of trouble and Moses folds to the pressure of the people and begins to question God.  He questions God’s goodness: “Why have your brought trouble on this people?”

He questions God’s purposes: “Is this why you sent me?”

He questions God’s actions: “You have not rescued your people at all.” He basically questions God’s character and blames God for not doing what He said He would do.

Do we ever do that too?  Sure we do. When things don’t go our way, when there’s no sign of God’s blessing, we tend to loose heart, our faith crumbles, and we go into default mode and begin to doubt God’s goodness and actions in our lives. Sometimes we get angry or even walk away from God, as if God is somehow beholden to our expectations or our timetables.  That’s the temptation –  when trouble comes our way we are quick to look at our circumstances and quick to doubt God and blame Him.

But what’s the alternative?  When trouble comes do you complain and blame, Or Do You Trust in the Lord?   You see, Moses had a faith problem. He needed to grow in his knowledge of God.  He needs a faith lift.  And so as we come to Exodus 6, God knows Moses needs to be encouraged.  He needs to know who God is.  For when he does, He will be able to trust in the Lord when trouble comes. So God reveals a few things about Himself to Moses.  The first thing He reveals: I am the Lord who rules His worldThen the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”Exodus 6:1

Moses’ complaint was that God wasn’t doing what He had promised.  But the truth was that God had everything under control, as He always does. God never explained why He allowed his people to go through so much trouble or why Moses was still the right man for the job.  God did not try to justify himself to Moses at all; He simply repeated His promise to glorify Himself by defeating Pharaoh by His mighty hand. Moses thought things had gone from bad to worse, but as far as God was concerned, everything was going perfectly to plan.  Even Pharaoh’s defiant refusal was part of the plan. God was setting things up so that Pharaoh would not only let God’s people go but would help drive them out himself.  The all-wise and all-powerful God had everything under control.  And Moses needed to trust Him.   Just like we need to trust Him when trouble comes.

God rarely works the way we expect Him to work, God rarely works on our timetable, and more times than not God works through the most difficult of circumstances – for it is then He gets the glory.  So the next time trouble comes, don’t get discouraged, don’t let your faith crumble at the first sign of adversity, but trust that He has everything under control. That’s the first thing Moses needed to learn.  We need to learn that too: Our God is all-wise and all-powerful and has everything under control.  

Now the second thing God reveals: I am the Lord who keeps His promises God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreignersMoreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.  Exodus 6:2-5

God’s answer to Moses contained a second great truth – that God always remembers His covenant.  In other words, “I am the Lord who keeps my promises!”  When God repeats things like this, it is because we need to hear them more than once. So much of the Christian life consists of being reminded of what we already know, so we can apply it to each new situation in life.  When trouble comes, we need to be reminded that God is still God. He is the God of history, the very same God who promised salvation to Abraham and brought Moses out of Egypt. Like Moses, you need to be reminded that God knows what you are going through and that He fully intends to keep every promise that He has ever made to you.

So far so good, but now God reveals His heart to Moses: I am the Lord who redeems His people  “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”Exodus 6:6-9

At the heart of God is the heart of a Savior.  God wants Moses to know and us to know the good news of salvation that “I am the Lord who redeems His people.”

1) God will free the slaves.  “I will bring you out” “I will free you.”He says. One of the reasons God allowed things to go from bad to worse is so that Israel would see their need of a Savior.  They had tried to deliver themselves but Pharaoh wouldn’t listen.  They had no power.  They were slaves.  They needed someone greater than Pharaoh to set them free.  God declares to Moses that He is that someone: “I will redeem youwith an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”  This is the truth at the heart of the gospel.  We are all slaves to sin.  We have no power to set ourselves free.  We need a redeemer to set us free.  That’s why God sent us Jesus.

2) God will adopt the slaves. He says, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.”  Tony Merida tells his friend Dennis and Alison Omondi’s adoption story.  “They told the story of Benjamin.  Benjamin was thrown into an 18 foot hole in a Nairobi slum. This hole was the public toilet. A passing stranger heard his cry and spent two hours digging down into the muck to rescue him from death.  Benjamin was take in by New Life Home and Trust and eventually placed into the loving family of Dennis and Allison.”   This is a picture of what God did for Israel.  This is a picture of what God has done for us. We were in a pit and now we are in the arms of the Father who loves us. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place tostand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.Psalm 40:2-3

3) God will give hope to the slaves.  Israel are slaves, they’re oppressed, they have no hope.  But God is not simply going to free them and love them as His own.  He is also going to give them a home.  They had nothing, now God was going to give them an inheritance: the promised land.  And that’s what God promises us through the resurrection of Jesus: By Jesus’ resurrection, we now have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you”1 Peter 4:4

That’s our hope.  If you put your hope in the stuff of this world, you will despair when trouble comes.  But this world is not our home.

What God is revealing to Moses here is what He reveals to us in Jesus:  Salvation is all of God.  He sets us free, He makes us His own and He promises us a home with Him forever.  And so when trouble comes, and it will, remember who God is.  He is the Lord who rules the world, He is the Lord who keeps His promises and He is the Lord who redeems His people.  And when you remember who He is, then we can trust when trouble comes.  Let’s pray.