Being God’s Man (Or Woman) Is Never Easy Series

Do you know who JaMarcus Russell is? Diehard Raiders fans may remember the name. He was the overall first pick in the 2007 NFL draft. Russell could “throw the ball over a building” one scout reported. But Russell hated conditioning, which made it hard for him to stay in shape. He also didn’t like studying game tape. He was once given a DVD containing plays to take home and critique. The next day he came back and told his coach that he was on board with everything he had seen. The DVD, however, was blank. Oops. After starting 25 games and going 7-18, the Raiders cut Russell. The final straw was when the quarterback showed up to training camp weighing 290 pounds—20 pounds over his playing weight.

When we watch professional athletes, we might surmise that what they do is easy for them because, well, they’re extremely athletic. But any successful athlete will tell you that it’s not easy being and remaining a star. It takes constant hard work—even if you were the first pick in the draft.

Likewise, being God’s man or woman is never easy. While Moses was God’s pick to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, events didn’t unfold as Moses thought they should. He ran into a brick wall rather quickly. As we continue this sermon series to see how Moses and we are made for more, we’ll learn that we shouldn’t expect our lives as God’s children to be easy. We’ll also learn how God helps us through the dark and difficult periods.

After God appeared to Moses at the burning bush, Moses, together with his older brother Aaron, set out for Egypt. Their first stop? Convince the Israelites that God had heard their cries for mercy and was about to do something about their slavery. The Israelites believed Moses and worshipped the Lord in anticipation of their long-awaited rescue.

The second stop didn’t go nearly as well. Moses and Aaron boldly strode into Pharaoh’s palace, perhaps like gunslingers in a Western, and communicated the Lord’s demands that Pharoah let the Israelites take a 3-day break to worship in the wilderness. But Pharaoh sneered: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” (Ex. 5:2) With apologies to Packer and Lions fans, Pharaoh’s response was not unlike what Green Bay thought before their final game this season with Detroit. “The Detroit Lions? Who are they? Perennial losers. That’s who they are. They won’t stand in our way of making it to the playoffs.” Of course, much to the delight of Detroit fans, the Lions soundly defeated the Packers. And God would in time show the arrogant pharaoh who he was when all of Egypt suffered through the Ten Plagues.

There’s a warning for us here, isn’t there? Although we may never say out loud: “Who is the Lord that I should listen to him?” do we reveal that attitude with our actions? When we ignore our parents and mock them for their weaknesses, we’re telling God that the Fourth Commandment, which bids us to honor those in authority, doesn’t apply to us. When we tell others about all the dumb things our coworkers do, we tread on the Eighth Commandment like it’s nothing more than hiking trail dirt. If these commandments were so important, wouldn’t God let us know every time we broke one of them—the way you’re sure to get a shock every time you stick a finger in a live outlet? Oh, but God will show his displeasure to all who think that he and his commandments are nothing. Judgment may not come right away, but it will come. It will also be relentless as it was for Pharaoh. Friends, let us humble ourselves before the Lord daily and ask for his forgiveness for all our acts of rebellion lest he treat us as an enemy as he did Pharaoh.

Pharaoh continued his mocking when he insisted that if the Israelites had time to whine about their work, they had time to do more of it. While demanding that they still make the same number of bricks as before, Pharaoh decreed that the Israelites would now have to first find their own straw to do it. Imagine a restaurant boss saying to the kitchen staff: “We will no longer provide water for you to wash the dishes. You’ll have to haul in your own water, and we still expect you to stay on top of providing the serving staff with clean dishes.” As you can imagine, the Israelites were not able to complete their quota of bricks under the new system. So the Egyptian taskmasters beat the Israelite foremen. Not surprisingly, the same Israelites who had earlier rejoiced at Moses’ news that God had heard their cries for mercy, now angrily shouted at Moses and Aaron: “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (Ex. 5:21) Moses in turn complained: “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why did you send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (Ex. 5:22-23)