WHY SHOULD I NOT GIVE UP ON GOD?

 

Text: Exodus 5:15-23

Please Open Your Bible ⤵️

15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?

16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.

17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.

18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.

19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.

20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

22 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, LORD, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Key Verse: "And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?" (Exodus 5:22).

Message
In Napoleon Hill's classic, _Think and Grow Rich,_ a man called R. U. Darby was caught in a gold rush. After discovering a field with the prospects of gold, he put some money together from friends and relatives to purchase the equipment to dig. But after many days of labour and finding nothing, they decided to quit. They sold the equipment to a junk man for a few hundred dollars and went back home. The junk man called in a mining engineer who examined the field and concluded that gold was available just three feet from where the Darbys had stopped. The junk man took millions of dollars from the ore of the mine because he knew enough to seek expert advice before giving up.

Moses and the people of Israel almost lost faith in God's plan to liberate them from Egypt's bondage. A series of back-to-back misfortunes resulted in their being discouraged.

Like srael and Moses, some could be wondering right now if they are still in God's will due to their present situation. They ask, 'Can we be in the will of God and be experiencing setbacks?' Some people have left their spouses and family, changed churches or abandoned their God-ordained profession because of temporal adversities.

We sometimes encounter challenges, discouraging circumstances and even failure on our way to success. The devil fights against God's will, forcing many to quit just when victory is near. We must trust God more when things are not working well because He is too faithful to disappoint us.

Thought For The Day: Those who quit do not win.

The Bible In One Year: Acts 1-2

Meditation

You must fight to finish

1. Challenges condition many to substandard living

The children of Israel had conditioned themselves to a life of bondage after being in captivity for many generations. You will notice that their complaint against Moses was about trying to shift them away from their "comfort zones" which actually was a life of bondage,  v21.

2. The enemy will react mercilessly when you are seeking for full freedom and better standard of living

The Taskmaster did not bother them as long as the Israelites were willing to cooperate with them and remain in their limited freedom and blessings.  As soon as you start fighting for your full freedom, expect angry reactions from your adversary, vv18,19.

3. The seemingly negative reaction is a sign that the walls of the adversaries are cracking

Keep on the battle line and the wall will collapse for you to move out to better living.

4. If you don't fight to finish you put yourself in a greater bondage

Supposing the children of Israel refused to fight along with Moses to the end, they would have ended up in greater hardship than before they started seeking for deliverance.

5. In spiritual battles for full life and freedom, the best option is to determine to fight the fight to finish.

Prayer points

God, work in me that I will passionately desire the fuller life you have for me🙏

Lord, give me strength and courage to always fight to finish and receive the crown of a conqueror 🙏

Lord, give me the power and anointing that is greater that that of my adversaries 🙏

Lord, I hereby ask for strength and courage for brethren fighting the battle of their destinies🙏

Hymn: Turn your eyes upon Jesus

1. O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

2. Thro' death into life everlasting,
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion--
For more than conqu’rors we are!

3. His Word shall not fail you--He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!