Upside Down

            Sometimes, when we obey God, things don’t go well. 

            When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses was reluctant to go back to Egypt and offered all sorts of excuses—Pharaoh would not listen, the people would question Who God was, he wasn’t able to speak clearly.  But God over ruled all those excuses and finally Moses obeyed. 

            When he actually began delivering the message God had given him, things really began to fall apart.  Pharaoh not only rejected his message (which God said would happen, so it was no surprise), he accused Moses and all the people of being lazy.  As a result, Pharaoh withdrew the supply of straw to make bricks and made the people go gather their own straw.  On top of that, Pharaoh demanded that the quota of bricks be kept the same.  This created a huge burden for the Israelis and much suffering.  In addition, the Egyptian task masters began to beat the Israeli foremen and when they took their case to Pharaoh, he rebuffed their pleas and accused them of laziness.

            When the foremen came out of the meeting with Pharaoh, they accused Moses and Aaron of causing all this heartache and difficulty. Moses then complained to the Lord:  “Why have You brought harm to this people?  Why did You ever send me?  Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”  Moses is hemmed in between an angry Pharaoh and his own irate, suffering people—all because he simply obeyed what God told him to do.

            It is then, when things seemed the darkest, that God speaks to Moses.  God again outlines His plan and reassures Moses of the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  God also tells Moses what He was about to fulfill through Moses’ obedience.

            If you have been obeying God’s directions to you but things seem to have only gotten worse, don’t give up.  Go back to God.  Talk to Him.  Make sure you are following what He told you to do.  And listen to His voice.  He may give you correction if you are off base.  He may reaffirm His instructions.  But He will always listen.  Don’t let the worsening of the situation get between you and God.  Be confident in Who He is and know the truth of Ps. 56:9b  “This I know, that God is for me.”  If things are upside down, wait on God to turn them back right side up.