https://www.bibleleaguetrust.org/when-things-go-wrong/
By J.P. Thackway (Pastor, Emmanuel Church, Salisbury, U.K.)
WHEN REALLY, THEY ARE RIGHT
And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all
(Exodus 5:22,23)
As Christians, we rely continually on the Lord’s guidance for our lives. We cannot see the way ahead, nor are we meant to (Proverbs 27:1b; Matthew 6:34). The Lord ordains the future for us, and He promises always to guide us in the winding paths of providence (Isaiah 58:11).
We know and believe this precious truth. It is one of the greatest blessings a believer has. If we wanted a definition of a Christian, we have it here: a saved soul, with a life guided by God – all the way to heaven: “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:24).
Straightforward
This is straightforward enough. However, divine guidance itself is sometimes not straightforward. For example, we commit our way to the Lord and look to Him to lead us; but obstructions block our path, disappointments happen, setbacks and reversals beset us. These dismay us. The devil tempts us to think that God Himself is against us. This can bring us very low in spirit.
Dear reader, maybe this past year has been marked by these very things in your life, and you seem no further forward than you were this time last year! What help is there for us when this happens? In the verses that head this article we have an example of this happening to no less a man than Moses, and his reaction to it is typical of how we tend to react. However, in his case it was wonderfully resolved, but not before he learned some valuable lessons that could not be learnt otherwise.
We know the background. After much reluctance, Moses, with Aaron’s support, goes to Pharaoh and speaks in God’s name: “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness” (Exodus 5:1). Moses might have expected Pharaoh to take this seriously because he was doing the Lord’s will and following His way.
Opposite
Yet the outcome was the opposite from what Moses expected God to do. Pharaoh was unmoved, and provoked to anger: “And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go” (verse 2). His anger turned punitive and demanded that the Israelites, far from being allowed to leave, must work all the harder. In addition, he withheld straw from them and yet demanded the same total of bricks each day (verses 4-13). Not only that, but when they failed this impossible demand, he meted out physical punishment (verse 14).
Added to all that, for Moses came the cutting words of the Israelite elders:
And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish aught from your bricks of your daily task.
And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us (verses 19-21).
Hardest
This was a cruel blow. The Israelites as good as say that they wish Moses had never gone to Pharaoh with the Lord’s demand. Moses’ action has made matters far worse for God’s people, and for him. Everything has gone terribly wrong – or so it seems. Where is divine guidance in all of this? Where is the Lord honouring those who honour Him? It seemed to Moses that being in the centre of God’s will is being in the centre of a storm of trouble! This throws us, and can stagger faith and godly confidence. It did Moses: see verses 22 and 23).
When this is so, there are always two considerations that help us:
1. SOME THINGS TO REMEMBER
1] We must reckon with who God is.
He is our Guide – but He is also the infinite, sovereign, righteous, eternal and only-wise God. Therefore, we must be prepared for Him to take His own way that is beyond our limited understanding (Isaiah 55:8,9). Our response at such time can only be that of Paul in Romans 11:33:
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
It is only in this spirit of worship that we can gain a right perspective on what has happened. We must see things in the light of God’s throne and sovereignty. This was Job’s instinct when all began to go wrong: “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped” (Job 1:20). In His light we shall see light (Psalm 36:9).
Let us, by grace, resist the temptation to complain of God’s dealings or imagine that things could be better than they are. Let us rather be on our knees and thanking God for reserving the right to do what He will in our case (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Anything less will never bring us into peace. A soft heart, a teachable spirit, and a submissive will must always be the way we acknowledge God and that He always does “right” (Nehemiah 9:33). Then we are on the way to being helped through.
2] God has a larger purpose.
He often is accomplishing more than the one thing that matters to us. It was so here. For Pharaoh, his stubborn and arrogant rejection of God’s demand meant that his cup of judgement filled to the brim. And in this it glorified God: “And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth” (Exodus 9:16). And for Moses, it was to train him in boldness before Pharaoh and to learn the strength of God. Moreover, it would prepare him for the setbacks in leading the Israelites through the wilderness. And for Israel, the plagues and the exodus would show them what a great God they have!
3] Moses had forgotten something.
When he shrank from God’s commission to go to Pharaoh, God assured him, “Certainly I will be with thee” (3:12). A wonderful promise! This has not changed with the unexpected outcome. Moreover, the Lord had warned Moses that it would not be straightforward: “And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go” (verses 19,20).
Moses seems to have forgotten these words of God. And is not this behind our struggles and difficulties? We have forgotten God’s word. We fail because it is Scripture that keeps our thinking right and our faith strong. Let its influence recede, and we go wrong and confidence flags. However, when God’s word returns, we return to stability: it steadies and comforts us; we then “rejoice for the consolation” (Acts 15:31).
4] We should seek grace not to panic.
Moses’ reaction showed that this was, in effect, what he did. When we panic, we function as if it were all down to us. Whereas, to believe is to quietly trust and have calm confidence in God, no matter what has happened: “he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isaiah 28:16). The Puritan Joseph Caryl said: ““It is unbelief which makes haste, faith is content to wait and tarry.” And John Wesley wisely said: ““Though I am always in a haste, I am never in a hurry, because I never undertake more work than I can go through with perfect calmness of spirit.”
5] Such a debacle keeps us from setting too much store by our faithfulness.
This is always a danger. We almost think that the Lord owes us blessings in exchange for our obedience. But the Lord is not obliged like this: “Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?” (Romans 11:35). Our doing His will is always in the context of His sovereign purposes. Sometimes it pleases Him to cross our expectations with outcomes of His own, for His own glory. Then, our only course is to bow to a higher wisdom and perfect love. As has been said,
Ill that He blesses is our good,
And unblessed good is ill;
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be His sweet will.
And again,
His method is sublime,
His thoughts supremely kind;
God never is before His time,
And never is behind.
2. ONE THING TO DO
We see Moses’ gracious reaction in that “[he] returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord …” (Exodus 5:22). Moses prayed. His accusers were so cutting in their criticism and complaint. He gave no answer, but he went to God. This is our resort as well. In such circumstances a gracious soul returns to a gracious God.
1] This resort was a habit
“And Moses returned to the LORD.” “Returned” means he has been there before. When we are accustomed to turning to the Lord, then every new perplexity will send us there again. That is good for us, and shows that our straits are having a beneficial effect and not a harmful one.
2] We see how bold and honest Moses is.
Moses’ frankness might startle us. Read again verses 22 and 23. He tells the Lord how things are and what fills his mind. In this prayer there are two questions: why has God treated the people badly, and why did He send Moses? And two complaints: that Moses’ speaking to Pharaoh has only made matters worse for Israel, and God has not delivered the people like He said He would. And we do not read that the Lord rebuked Moses for such honesty.
We can do this as well. Hebrews 4:16 reminds us that we may come “boldly unto the throne of grace,” and “boldly” literally means “all speech,” meaning freedom of speech and expression. The psalmist did the same, “I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble” (Psalm 142:2). This is not a carnal reaction but a godly one.
And so, dear reader, with your disappointment, frustration, perplexing questions – tell it all to Him, and keep nothing back. It is for the Lord to answer you and resolve His own apparent discrepancy. Do not complain of Him, but you can complain to Him. Tell Him how bad it is, and wait for the answer of peace. Here is where relief and hope are found. We pray ourselves into peace.
3] And then, continue and see it through.
“Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand he will let them go …” (Exodus 6:1). This was all Moses needed to reset his outlook and help him onwards in the way of God.
And so we read in Exodus of the further interviews with Pharaoh, with Moses gaining confidence each time; followed by the plagues, the Passover, the exodus itself, Mount Sinai, and the march toward Canaan. Therefore, keep going, continue in faith, and expect the Lord to come in for you and you will see what it is all for. As one has written, “Moses’ heart was strengthened by being pointed toward the goal.”
4] Things are worst just before the deliverance.
“Then the LORD said…” The time of Moses desperate prayer was the darkest hour before the dawn. The worst was happening just before the best happened. And so, the resolution of your situation may be nearer than you think. “Then the LORD said” might well be said to you, and then you will see the rest of the providence. David Charles (1762-1834) in his “Great Providence of Heaven” puts it like this,
Its darkness dense is but a radiant light;
Its oft-perplexing ways are ordered right.
Soon all its winding paths will end, and then the tale
Of wonder shall be told Beyond the veil.
All the Lord wants us to do is to trust Him: trust Him where we cannot trace Him. Faith and patience will win the day, and we shall find, like Moses and countless other tried saints, that our God “hath made every thing beautiful in his time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
(Used with kind permission of the author)
