When you’ve had it, and then see God’s EXIT sign, going through it will take you right into His arms.
We concluded our last lesson with Moses unloading on the Lord. He wasn’t wrong in doing this. We’ve been instructed to cast all our care on Him. But remember what he said? “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now” (vv 14-15). It’s always helpful to lay the whole burden out before the Lord, but it’s rarely a good idea to then tell the Lord what to do to fix it. God’s solution to life’s pressure is never to bail out, at least, not to bail out as from a plane. Let her crash and burn, we say; I’ve had enough. But it is good to bail out if we’re talking about a boat! In other words, we’re in this together, and I won’t abandon God’s people just because we’re going through a hard time. If you feel like giving up, remember what Paul wrote immediately after his warning that we not act like the complaining Israelites: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor 10:13). Notice God’s bullet points. First, you aren’t the first (or the last) person who faced something like this; all of God’s people go through hard times. Second, the trustworthy God is always on duty, and He’s seen it all before. He got Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Joshua, Deborah and Barak, and thousands more through their tough times. Third, what you think is your point of no return is just a bend in the road; God will not let you go over the red line. And fourth, God has an exit strategy, a “way of escape,” not so you’re able to shirk it, but “able to bear it.” And God has a plan for Moses, too!