On Our Way To Victory

Exodus 5:1-21

Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.'"

And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go."

So they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword."

Then the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor." And Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!"

So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, "You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words."

And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, "Thus says Pharaoh: 'I will not give you straw. Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.'" So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, "Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw." Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, "Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?"

Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why are you dealing thus with your servants? There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, 'Make brick!' And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people."

But he said, "You are idle! Idle! Therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' Therefore go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks." And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, "You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota."

Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. And they said to them, "Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."
NKJV

How many times have you been there? The times when God has shown you or your spouse a sign that He wants to take you to a better place, and before you get two steps out the door, the enemy comes in and for seemingly no other reason except that he can, makes the place you are in, even more unbearable.

Pharaoh was clearly an enemy of the Lord and the Israelites, and even said so in the first part of the reading Saying "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go."
So he decided to make them work harder than ever before, and now there would be no freebies either. It showed very quickly where the Israelites hearts were at when they complained to Moses saying what is it you have done to bring this upon us.

Sometimes, when God moves the enemy will move too. You see, Satan wants to keep your eyes off the prize, he does not want you to get to the promised land. So he uses a tool like Pharaoh, who could care less anyway, to interfere and throw up some road blocks making the plan seem impossible.
How many situations have been that way for you? Did you see the promised land? Or did you only heed the taunts of the enemy.
I have been there, and the taunts of the enemy are very loud, and very real, your work load will double, even triple. The enemy will get you in a spot to where you are doubting what the Lord has spoken to you and make you believe that it really wasn't the Lord at all, and maybe you should just concede to the taskmaster.
One day while I was in the middle of my own brick making project, just about ready to break, I did hear the Lord very clearly. He spoke peace into me like no other can do. He spoke to me saying that He would guide me if I would just allow Him to, that He would protect me in the storm and shield me from the enemies fiery darts if I would just trust in Him and stop trusting in myself or what I was hearing and seeing from the taskmasters in my life. It was so clear, so real, So God!

I wonder, how much sooner the Israelites could have gotten out of Egypt if they had just focused on what the Lord had said and not their current increasingly worse hardships?

The Lord may not deliver us right out of the fire, but He will protect us and guide us when we fully trust in Him. Even if, as I had to do, He has you stay planted where you are at, trusting in Him makes even the hardest taskmaster seem to lighten up and the load easier to bear. Focus on what God would have you to do until such a time as He is ready to move you, on your way to victory.