출애굽기 5장 15절-6장 1절

Let's begin by looking at the context of Exodus chapters 5 and 6. Moses and Aaron accepted God's command to go down to Egypt and to tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go. But Pharaoh responds in 5:2, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 
Instead of letting the Israelites go Pharaoh made their bondage more severe. He forced them to make as many bricks as before, but gave them no straw. They had to find their own.
 
So the foremen of the Israelite work crews came to Moses and Aaron and accused them of putting a sword in Pharaoh's hand to kill them. Moses in turn cries out to God in 5:22-23, "Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”  God responds in Exodus 6:1, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”
 
There is a lesson for us here that we should note in passing. Often when God is about to bring some sort of victory into our lives, he lets it be preceded by a very discouraging setback. The burden of bondage in Egypt became heaviest just before the great day of liberation. In the same way, it is always darkest before the dawn.
 
God does this many times in our lives because he wants to build in us a faith in Him that is unshakable; a faith that will endure regardless of the difficulties or circumstances in our lives. So that means that God will allow difficulties to come into our lives in order to test and see if our faith in God is genuine and lasting faith.
 
What this is promising us and what it is revealing to us is that the difficulties you are experiencing right now is not punishing you or is it God being apathetic with his hands raised not willing to help. No, what this is teaching us is that God is working to win our hearts and to ensure that when we breathe our last breath that we will spend eternity with him because our faith was real.
 
I hope we can answer the question this morning, “Is my faith in God build on a foundation that cannot be shaken regardless of the circumstances, difficulties, and pain that come into our lives.” One of the greatest tests as to whether our faith in God is genuine is how we respond when God doesn’t do things the way we think He should do them. Will our faith endure and remain when God allows really hard things to come into our lives?
 
Prayer: Father God, thank you that you do all things for our good even if we don’t believe it or see it. Open the eyes of our hearts so that we would know your ways and trust in you through both the good and the bad. Help us to have faith in you and now in your rescue of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.