I grew up hearing the faith-and-victory narrative constantly. Do what God says and things will improve. When our youth group read Exodus 5, the question nobody wanted to ask was: why did it get worse? Moses obeyed. The brick quotas increased. The Israelites suffered more.
The Sunday school answer was always 'faith is tested.' But I needed someone to acknowledge that this is genuinely difficult. When you step out in obedience and circumstances deteriorate, something in you breaks. You start wondering if you heard God correctly.
What sustained me through a dark season was remembering that Moses had the same internal crisis. He didn't have the full picture yet. He had to trust before seeing deliverance. The rest of Exodus shows that the intensified suffering actually set the stage for a more dramatic rescue - one that would be undeniable. But Moses couldn't see that at the time. Neither could I.
No comments yet. Be the first.