Have you ever felt God lead you to reach out to someone to encourage them or to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them, only to be disappointed in their response as they dismiss or reject what you have to share? Perhaps you felt led to a particular activity or ministry to serve God, but the results do not immediately seem to encourage you… perhaps they are even downright discouraging.
We may often face disappointing responses to even our best efforts to obey God and do the things we feel He is calling us to do. That, however, does not mean we were not obedient. It may just be that we have not yet seen the fruit of our obedience to God. In some cases, we may never see the results of our obedience, but we are to continue in obedience none the less.
God Promises Action
1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”
2God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD; 3and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them. 4“I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. 5“Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6“Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8‘I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD.’” 9So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.
10Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” 12But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?” 13Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
Moses was clearly discouraged in the response of the sons of Israel to the message he brought to them from God. They were the very people God was promising to set free and they could not bring themselves to believe due to the difficult circumstances they were experiencing around them.
I am greatly encouraged to see the relationship God has with Moses. He allows His servant to share openly and honestly what he is feeling and ask real questions about the situation.
“Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?”
God did not get angry at Moses but rather hears his concern and then reaffirms the message and the mission that Moses and Aaron are to carry out in the name of God. Though Moses and Aaron can not yet see victory, and in fact are experiencing some apparent defeat, they continue in obedience to God to carry out the direction they received from God. Most of us know how the story of Moses ends… (spoiler alert)… God holds true to His word and through many miracles and using Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and out of bondage.
What situations are you facing in your life which may appear discouraging right now, but you feel God was leading you to address? Be encouraged by knowing that we please God in our obedience and that He is more than able to guide us to victory… but it will be according to His plans and timing rather than our own.
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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.