Articles
When God Doesn't Meet Our Expectations
Moses already made an attempt by his own will and plans to initiate Israel’s deliverance (Ex. 2:11-15). This ended in abject failure, and Moses fled Egypt for the safety of Midian. Moses had 40 years to reflect on the dynamics of what had happened, and when God came to commission him to do the job correctly, Moses balked (Ex. 3:1-4:17). The man once brimming with confidence and ready to defy Pharaoh now made every excuse in the book as to why God had the wrong man.
In persuading Moses to take the job, God declared (all verses in Exodus):
- “I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (3:8).
- “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people out of Egypt” (3:10).
- “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (3:12).
- Of Israel’s elders God said, “Then they will heed your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt” (3:18).
- Of Pharaoh’s reaction God said, “But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go” (3:19-20).
- Regarding Moses’ speech God said, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say” (4:12).
It all sounds very surgical, very seamless – sort of like a SEALS operation; get in, accomplish the objective, get out. No muss, no fuss. Except things didn’t exactly turn out that way. Oh, things went well at first: “So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped” (4:31).
The Egyptians, however, were not so understanding. Pharaoh flew into a rage, accused Israel of laziness, increased their workload and beat the Israelite overseers (5:1-19). This led to rebellion against Moses: “Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. And they said to them, ‘Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us” (5:20-21).
Perhaps Moses had a four-decade flashback to when he was rebuked by one of his countrymen for interfering in a dispute: “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” (2:14). Was it “deja vu all over again”? So Moses turned to God and asked the question of the ages when things don’t go according to our expectations: “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all” (5:22-23). Moses was having a crisis of confidence in God.
“This isn’t turning out like I thought it would!” Have you ever felt that way? The Bible is literally full of stories just like the exodus. How should we react when such times come?
- Trust in what God has said. God said several things to Moses that were quite clear. But when the heat was turned up, those things were forgotten. Granted, we face circumstances concerning which we have no specific revelation from God as to the outcome. But in such times we can be confident about general principles that may impact the situation.
- Believe that God knows what is happening. When things seem to spin out of control, it is easy to think that God is unaware or unconcerned. After all, if He was paying attention, He wouldn’t let this happen, would He? But God’s ways of accomplishing His will quite often go against the grain of human assumptions or methods. Don’t allow the situation to make you think that God has dropped the ball.
- Remember that we grow through trials. How many times did God snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Sometimes He makes us walk that last mile just to see how we will react. And when we affirm our trust in Him, we grow enough to meet the next challenge. And there will be more.
