Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord? Why did you send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And you have done nothing to rescue them!” [Exodus 5:22-23 (NLT)]
Sunday mornings, I take photographs for our church’s website. Last week, due to a cranky computer, only a handful of over 100 photos got edited, the day’s pics temporarily went AWOL, and my three editing programs eventually stopped working. In frustration, after hours of unsuccessful work, I gave up and tried to upload the few photos I’d managed to edit. That’s when I discovered my computer was on strike; there would be no uploading of anything from it! Panic set in and I resorted to what I usually do in such a situation: cry and complain.
Like Moses, I complained to God. If He wanted me to do this job, why was it so difficult? I then did what I should have done at first: asked for God’s blessing and guidance. “Lord, bless my work. If it’s your work as well, show me what I need to do to accomplish it.” After praying, it occurred to me that I didn’t have the only computer in the house! Duh! In fact, not only was my husband’s computer available, but I’d also installed a photo editing program on it several years ago. Using his laptop and my flash drive, I finished the editing in record time and uploaded all of the photos.
Moses was given a mission from God: get Pharaoh to free the Israelites and lead them to the Promised Land. Things weren’t going well; in fact, the situation had only gotten worse and Moses complained to God. After all, if we’re on a mission from God, shouldn’t it be trouble-free? Reading his complaint, I imagined what God was thinking. “Moses, you think this is tough? Just wait until you have Pharaoh’s army chase you into the sea, or you’ve had to provide food and water for over 600,000 men and their families, or listened to forty years of complaints before your task is done! Toughen up, big guy; you’ll encounter greater problems down the road. Trust me; I’ll never let you down. Don’t give up; you’re learning some valuable lessons that will help you in the future!”
Although God gives us tasks, He doesn’t promise they’ll be easy. It’s difficult to reconcile our problems with God’s assignments. As we struggle to achieve His work, however, we learn to depend on God and not ourselves. There’s nothing like a few obstacles to humble a prideful attitude. As He guides us through our difficulties and challenges, we become smarter, stronger and more determined. Moses’s early challenges prepared him for the trials of leading over half a million people as they walked forty years in the wilderness. Mine taught me about prayer, trust, perseverance, and backing up valuable computer files.
By the way, the next morning, my computer woke up in a far better mood. I had to do some minor clean up, delete some old files and back up others, but it is running smoothly again! Coincidence? I think not: more like a lesson from above.
“They’re not gonna catch us. We’re on a mission from God.” [Elwood to Jake in “The Blues Brothers”]
Devotions of the Heart 