October 21 - Why All This Trouble?

Overview of: Exodus

Today's Reading:
Ex. 5:22 – 7:24
"Slow Start for Freedom"

Focus Verses: Exodus 5:22-23
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."

Insight:
Moses did exactly what God had told him to do, and the result was trouble. His response to all this trouble seems reasonable. He asked, "Why God? Is this why you sent me? Is this your idea of rescue?"

God, of course, had a longer and more complex perspective. He said, "You'll see. I will deliver you. I will bring you to the land I have promised to Abraham. I am the Lord."

While it was impossible to understand, the trouble Moses and his people were experiencing on that day was somehow part of God's plan to deliver them. What looked like things were getting worse, was actually the beginning of things getting better. It was a slow start, but freedom was in the making.

Response and Action:
God is bigger than my troubles. I need to trust and obey God, even if doing what God commands me to do results in trouble. If I am following God, the troubles of my present are part of God's plan to give me the blessed future he has promised. When I cry out, "Why?," I need to hear and believe God's response, "You'll see. I'll keep my promises. I am the Lord."

O God, help me trust you in every troubling detail of my life. Help me to discern the difference between the troubles that result from disobedience and the troubles that result from obedience. Give me the wisdom and the will to follow Jesus and to walk in obedience to you. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, and strength. Help me to trust in your sovereign will, even during times of trouble. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.

New Testament for Today: 1 Peter 4:12-13
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
In Context: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Proverb for Today: Prov. 20:30
"There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD."

Resources:
Evil And the Justice of God
by N.T. Wright