Exodus 5:4-9
But the king of Egypt said to them, ‘Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labours!’ Pharaoh continued, ‘Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!’
That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, ‘You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, “Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.” Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labour at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.’
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To recap, Joseph was wildly successful, and soon there were loads of Israelites in Egypt--so many that Pharaoh was threatened and enslaved them all. To clear this up, God sends Moses to convince Pharaoh to let God's people go free.
And then Moses shows up and makes everything worse.
Ever had that happen to you? You think things are about as bad as they can get... and suddenly things get worse? Perhaps even thanks to someone who is trying to make them better? And it's all you can do to thank them by politely inviting them to never speak to you again?
Welcome to the world of the Israelites. But do you know what? God is there. And God has something in store for them--something big.
God has something in store for you, too. It doesn't mean you'll recognize it when it first shows up. It doesn't mean you're free from all of life's stress and problems and pain. It doesn't mean that you won't wonder where God is in the process of arriving there.
But God is with you, even in the pain, even when it seems to get worse. Just hold on--God has something big in store.
Blessings
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