Read:
Then the Lord told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”
And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty – but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them. And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners. You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.
“Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’”
So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and tell him to let the people of Israel leave his country.”
“But Lord!” Moses objected. “My own people won’t listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I’m such a clumsy speaker!”
But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders for the Israelites and for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.
~Exodus 6 1-13 (NLT)
Consider:
Do you remember, “pinky promising” as a child? Maybe you were more of a “cross my heart” type or an “I swear” promisor. Most of these “types” of promises usually involve a secret that “the promisor” is agreeing to keep. Other times these promises involve a commitment or an action “to do” or “not to do.”
The problem with human promises is that they are never guaranteed and often leave those involved feeling hurt, embarrassed, betrayed and humiliated.
Broken promises leave us broken.
Life experience is a funny thing, too, because once we’ve felt the pain from a broken promise it’s very hard for us to open our hearts back up to the vulnerability of trusting again. We realize that it doesn’t feel good, and we become callused, cold and discouraged in humanity’s ability to be trustworthy. We lose faith in the weight of a promise, and this is exactly where we find the Israelites in chapter 6 of Exodus.
The Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians for a long time. While they were aware of the promises God had given to their ancestors: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I’m not sure they believed those promises were ever going to be fulfilled. Prior to chapter 6, Moses and Aaron delivered a message from the Lord to the Israelite elders, a message that their rescue was coming. Verse 31 of Exodus chapter 4 says, “Then the people of Israel were convinced that the Lord had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.”
Unfortunately, after a confrontation with Pharaoh (whom did not believe nor care about their request to be freed), he worsened their work conditions. After this, the Israelites became discouraged and unwilling to listen or believe the promises of rescue, deliverance and freedom relayed by Moses and Aaron.
The Israelites became distracted. The freedom they were just thrilled about in chapter 4 was so easily dissipated by the “brutality of their slavery.”
God tells Moses to go back to Pharaoh again in Exodus 6 verses 10-11, and at this point, even Moses (whom God is speaking directly to) starts questioning God. “But Lord!” Moses objected. “My own people won’t listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I’m such a clumsy speaker!” (Exodus 6:12)
It’s easy to judge the Israelites and especially Moses for their lack of faith in God’s promises because we know that he actually did fulfill every single one of them. Joshua 21:45 says, “None of the good promises the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.” It may have taken a handful of plagues, 40 years of wandering and a leadership change before they finally did get to the “promise land,” but they did eventually get there and God did everything he said he was going to do
With the Israelites we get to read the entire story, but that’s not the case with the story of our own lives.
Our stories are still being written each and everyday. Fortunately, we have the power to write into our stories by the choices we make and while sometimes, we don’t always get to be the author of the things that happen to us, we still have the power to choose how we are going to respond.
When you’re feeling discouraged or distracted like the Israelites were, remember that His promise of freedom is just as true for you as it was for them.
The good news is that God’s promises are guaranteed (unlike those silly pinky promises between 13-year-old girls). God. Is. Faithful.
I’m not sure what kind of discouragement you may be facing in your life right now that is preventing you from experiencing the freedom available to you through Christ. But sometimes all it takes is a little bit of faith, trust and reflection on the fulfillment of His past promises to get us to a place where we are ready to receive complete freedom in Him.
Breathe:
Exhale the pain and discouragement you’ve experienced from broken promises of the past…Inhale God’s trustworthy promise to rescue, deliver and free you from the bondage of this world.
Pray:
Dear God, I’ve been hurt and disappointed many times by broken promises. Help me to understand your promises are different, and your promises are true. I pray that no matter what I am faced with today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life that I would put my trust in you. I pray I would live free from all of the junk this world places in front of me; able to fulfill the purposes you have for my life.
Today’s post was written by Amanda Sanders.
Amanda has been married to her high school sweet heart Matt for 11 years. Together they have three kids ages 8, 7 and 3. In this season of life, Amanda spends most of her time drinking coffee, teaching children, doing laundry and repeating herself. Occasionally, she has some time for working out, reading for leisure and writing. You can find her on Sunday mornings worshiping at our Real Life UCF campus.
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