How do you respond when faithfully following God’s Word makes life harder instead of easier? This week, we turn to Exodus 5 where Moses and Aaron faithfully follow God’s Word in going to tell Pharaoh to let God’s people go. Pharaoh rejects God’s voice (v.2). In hearing their request, Pharaoh not only rejects their message but answers back by making the Israelites’ labour ‘harder’(v.9). Seeing the trouble Moses’ obedience to God’s call and God’s Word has brought to their situation, it says, the Israelite overseers found Moses and Aaron and cursed and criticized them. Instead of things getting easier, obeying God’s Word — for both Moses and the people — at first, it made life harder.
We sometimes see this same pattern in our own lives when we commit ourselves to living faithful to God’s Word and call in Christ. In the New Testament, Jesus actually promises us that, “In this world you will have trouble” (Jn. 16:33). How will you respond to trouble? At the end of ch. 5, how does Moses respond? That is what we look at this week.