I find it interesting that Pharaoh addresses both Moses and Aaron by name. He accuses them of stopping the work of the Israelites. Pharoah sends his taskmasters out to increase the workload of the Israelites.

They had been making bricks. To do that they needed straw. Before, the straw had been provided for them. Now, they had to gather the straw themselves, but the workload, the quota they had to fill, was the same.

This is when we all see what we believe, when the thing we were hoping for doesn’t happen. Not only that, things get worse; we take a step backward instead of forward. It’s a time when we’re believing for healing and get the news that it’s gotten worse, not better. It’s a time when we’re believing for provision and another bill comes. It’s a time when the roof is leaking and then the heater breaks.

Do those times turn you to worship and thanksgiving? That’s the heart of a believer. A believer may have a moment of struggle, complaint, or questioning, but then the believer remembers who their God is and surrenders everything again into God’s loving and capable hands.

We need our faith to be in God, not in things. He is unchanging, so our faith can be unchanging. Jesus is the rock, the solid ground on which we can stand firm. Putting your hope in anything else is shifting sand that will allow us to be shaken.

The Israelites have quickly lost their belief and attitude of worship. They are mad at Moses and Aaron and say that Pharaoh has a “sword in his hand” to kill them. The sword came from obeying, not from disobeying!

Moses falls with them, saying to God, “Why have you done evil to these people? You have not delivered your people at all.”

He accuses Goodness and Holiness of evil. He accuses Salvation as not delivering.

Moses doesn’t know God yet. He sees the problems, not the One who had already overcome them.

Do you know Him? What’s your response when it’s just all wrong?