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Topic: No Quick Fixes!
[DCLM Daily Manna 14 January 2020 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Exodus 5:15-23
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
21 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.
22 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?
23 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.
Key Verse: “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 5:23)
MESSAGE:
The challenges of life often breed severe pain and discomfort. As a result, we tend to desire a quick fix from the Lord, that He will waste no time in giving us a solution. But God does not work by man’s timetable, nor does He always answer when we desired it most.Vironika Tugaleva, an award-winning author and poet, has some fitting words of admonition: “Whatever you do, it will be a path. Life does not work like a light switch – on/off, fat/skinny, miserable/happy. All things take time, patience, and practice. Anyone who tells you differently is profiting off your fearful ignorance of the truth”.
Moses did not quite understand this in the early part of his ministry. In obedience to God, he had gone to Pharaoh to demand that he should let the people of Israel go from captivity to serve and worship the Lord. But instead of granting their request, Pharaoh strengthened the severity of the people’s working condition. To him, the Israelites had a lot of idle time, hence their agitation for freedom to go and serve God.
Seeing that their already hard labour had been made harsher, the Israelites blamed Moses and Aaron for their worsening condition. Moses himself complained to God about Pharaoh’s wicked response. He wondered why he was sent on this mission, adding that since he spoke to Pharaoh, he had done only more evil to the Israelites; “neither hast thou delivered thy people at all”.
God does not always answer our prayers when and how we expect it. The fact that the hardship and suffering we are experiencing have persisted does not mean that He is not at work on our behalf. Such tough experiences are often meant to increase our faith and enable us to trust God to do the best for us.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Quick solutions are not always the best remedy.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 41-44
