October 3rd

When Life Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. Exodus 3:10

Quitting time: It's the favorite time of day for millions of Americans all across the country. But I have news for those of you who believe in Jesus: It's not quitting time yet; God still wants to use you.

Just look at the life of Moses. He's essentially orphaned as a child, raised as an Egyptian, and makes the mistake of his life at the age of forty when he murders a man with his bare hands. He spends the next forty years in the desert shepherding his father in-law's sheep.

Finally, at eighty years old, God appears to him and gives him the mission of a lifetimeGo and free my people from their slavery to the most powerful nation on earth.

How would you like to have that conversation with God? Well, personally, I think there's a lot we can learn from it that will help us see what God is asking of us.

First, you can't be abandoned beyond God's reach. Moses was dumped in a river, saved by a princess, and raised in a foreign household under a pantheon of pagan gods. Yet God reached in and grabbed him, redeeming and calling him to become the redeemer of His chosen son, Israel.

Second, you can't sin your way beyond God's redemption. Moses was a murderer. How many of you have messed up that badly? Even if you have, look at what God does-the closest He gets to mentioning it is telling Moses that those who sought his life were dead.

Third, you can't age your way beyond God's use. Moses was eighty years old. Considering that the average lifespan in our country is about seventy-seven, most of you reading this haven't hit that number yet.

Fourth-well, if you haven't caught on by now, there simply is no excuse to say no to God. Our ability to serve Him is not limited to our weakness because it is empowered by His strength.

A lot of times, people want to quit on God when life gets hard. We need to understand that life might be hard sometimes, but that if we remain unsurrendered to God, it's going to continue to get worse, never rebounding or getting better.

God's plans are always for hope and a future. Surrender to Him today and let Him lead you into His plans for your life.

Prayer Lord God,

Thank You that You have good plans for my life that lead me through the hard time I am facing right now! I completely surrender to Your plan for me and ask that You lead me every day.

Amen