There is nothing worse than setbacks. You’ve done your part. You think you’ve done a good job. You’ve prayed about it. You believe it’s what God wanted. Things seem to be going in the right direction. Then all of a sudden, things are worse or they blow up.
It’s natural to lose our confidence in what is happening and with God. Why would he allow this to happen? Doesn’t he know we are disillusioned?
Poor old Moses. He was having one of those moments and it was bad.
It had taken a lot for Moses to get on board with God’s plan in the first place. When he had eventually plucked up the courage, things began to fall into place.
Aaron came alongside Moses, all went smoothly with the elders of the Israelites, who were also on board. Moses and Aaron met with Pharaoh. Perhaps Moses and Aaron expected a good answer to their request: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”
This was when things started to go badly wrong. Pharaoh intensified the hardships on the enslaved people. The Israelite leaders blamed Moses and Aaron. They said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (Exodus 5:21).
So Moses turns to God:
“Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all” (Exodus 5:22-23).
There are some encouragements in God’s reply that we can take for ourselves. They can help us when things are not going as well as expected. We can also rely on them when things get worse.
God was in full control. God speaks with total authority and about what was happening. He hadn’t even got started! Moses would see God’s power.
God said to Moses, “Now you’ll see what I’ll do to Pharaoh: With a strong hand he’ll send them out free; with a strong hand he’ll drive them out of his land.” (Exodus 6:1 MSG).
God’s plan was completely solid from beginning to end.
God continued speaking to Moses, reassuring him, “I am God. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as The Strong God… I’ll bring you into the land that I promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and give it to you as your own country. I AM God.” (Exodus 6:2, 8 MSG).
It’s good for us to remember when our worlds are turning upside down. God is in control. His good plans will not be derailed.
But, the reassurance I like most is that God’s plans are not just big sweeping plans. He is not like an out-of-touch CEO sitting in his office unaware of what’s happening on the work floor. God is in the details.
God cared deeply about his people, not just the details of the plan. We know this because Exodus 6 contains a long list of the tribes of Israel. It also lists individual names: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Saul, the son of a Canaanite woman. The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri, to name a few.
If you are seeing huge setbacks, wondering if you can move forward, or how much more you can take, you can be confident.
Go to your heavenly Father with your concerns. Trust that he is in the details. He cares about you and each individual in the middle of what is happening.
If you’re in a season of setback or waiting, don’t walk through it alone. Let your prayers rise from where you are. Day 11 of Pray Naturally offers you the words to trust God again—even when life doesn’t make sense.
Start praying with confidence, right where you are.
[Get your copy of Pray Naturally here]
Or leave a comment: What setback are you trusting God with today?
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