So I'm currently reading through Exodus, just getting started really. Moses is born, grows up, kills an Egyptian beating up one of his people, flees to Midian, meets God in the burning bush, goes back to Egypt and tells Pharoah, "Let my people go."
Of course, Pharaoh responds exactly as God said he would: who is the LORD and why should I let you go? He then orders the slave drivers to make the Israelites make the same quota of bricks as before, only without giving them the straw to make the aforementioned bricks.
The people (who were initially thrilled about Moses' report that God had heard their cries) get angry at Moses and tell him to take a flying leap if this is what his return is going to mean for them. Moses goes to God and asks "what's up?" And God says that deliverance is still coming.
It strikes me as I read this story this morning that often what I think should happen as a result of my obedience and what actually does happen as a result of my obedience are two different things. I think obedience should equal "smooth." I do as God asks of me and people like me, the work goes forward, my kids sleep through the night without waking me up, and my NCAA basketball brackets come up golden.
Instead, sometimes obedience leads me to places of trying to make bricks without straw. I am forced to work harder, to be in places or relationships that are more strained, not less, I am pressed to a new breaking point, I am pushed to fresh places of consternation or temptation or even despair.
I think it's hardest to believe that deliverance is coming when we've taken a step of obedience in the face of obstacles and challenges and in return all we get is more obstacles and challenges. Apart from at least a taste of instant gratification, it's hard for me to wait for the full deliverance of the Lord.
It's the waiting in the times of difficulty and trial that is often the hardest part.
1 comment:
Alex,
A couple of things came to mind as I read this post. First, it reminds me of the question I posed to you on an earlier post. The post was about how we often feel entitled to what we want for our faithfulness and obedience. And I questioned if we can still expect some sort of blessing for our faithfulness to the Lord, even if it doesn't look exactly the way we want.
The second thing that immediately came to mind was the word contentment. I completely relate to your sentiment of facing hard times in the wake of obedience, when it seems as if we should receive blessing rather than despair. I recently read "Battling Unbelief" by John Piper- wonderful book! In this book, he explores a number of sins, and he shows how the root of all these sins is unbelief in God's future grace. One of the sins he explores is covetousness, which he defines as "desiring anything other than God in a way that betrays a loss of contentment and satisfaction in him". He also phrased it as "the loss of contentment in Christ so that we start to crave other things to satisfy the longings of our heart". And he argues contentment in God to be the opposite of covetouness. Contentment in God is faith in future grace because we believe God's promises for us. And when we lose faith in God's promises for us, we begin to covet for other than what is. Paul has to be one of the prime examples of facing despair for his obedience. And yet he described the secret to getting through it all to be contentment (see Philippians 4:11-12). And he said this secret of contentment was "learned". So perhaps at least part of the point of more trials in the face of faithfulness is that He's trying to teach us to find all satisfaction in Him (because we have faith in His future grace[ because we have faith in His past grace, which was already accomplished on the cross]) rather than in our circumstances.
It's late, and that was very wordy- hope it made sense! And you should totally read "Battlling Unbelief". Piper is the man.
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