NOW I KNOW WHY THIS IS HAPPENING TO ME!
By Doug Pierce
For this time I will send all my plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. (Exodus 9:14)
How many of you have experienced something very difficult, painful, and stressful that came into your life and it seemed to drag on and on . . . and maybe you thought it would never end? It could be you’re even going through this type of dilemma as you read these words today…
- Perhaps it was/is some illness like cancer that requires endless rounds of chemo and radiation.
- Perhaps it was/is an ongoing drug problem with one of your children that tears at your marriage and pulls the family apart.
- Perhaps it was/is the pain of dealing with a bitter ex-spouse or controlling in-laws.
- Perhaps it was/is the care of an elderly loved one through the difficulties that come with aging.
When we have ongoing problems like this, we naturally ask God, “WHY?!! Why won’t you fix this, God? Why are you so slow in answering my prayer? What is the purpose of this prolonged frustration?!” While God does not often answer the “why” questions, He does want to answer the “what is the purpose” question. Once you can see the purpose of it all, it changes your perspective and helps you to “consider it all joy when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2).
LEARN FROM MOSES DEALINGS WITH PHARAOH
God met Moses at the burning bush and gave him an important assignment: Deliver My people from Pharaoh. Although afraid and feeling very inadequate, Moses obeyed God’s command and went to Pharaoh, King of Egypt, with this message, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Let My people go.’” [1] But Pharaoh replied (and I paraphrase), “Ain’t no way, Jose! Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice? I do not know the LORD and neither shall I let His people go.”[2]
As a result of Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh, Pharaoh increased the hardships on the Jews and ceased providing straw for the bricks. Moses became greatly disliked among the Jews for causing their situation to worsen. [3]
That’s when Moses asked in frustration, “WHY GOD?!! Why did you send me to Pharaoh? [4] I went with the vision You gave me to bring Your people out of Egypt. You told me that You would deliver Your people, but You didn’t. I only made things worse. What’s going on, Lord? Why am I having these doubts and feeling so discouraged!” You see, Moses did not understand what God was doing. Moses went thinking, “Let’s get this done, Lord! I know you’re going to deliver, God…Let’s do this! Hit Pharaoh with your knockout punch and let’s get outta here!” But the problem was . . . that it was not God’s way because that would not have accomplished His purpose.
Ten plagues and the Red Sea disaster were in Pharaoh’s future. So why did God use that method and that drawn out plan? In our verse for today [5], the Lord gives us the answer: “For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth.
But, indeed, for this cause I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power, and in order TO PROCLAIM MY NAME THROUGH ALL THE EARTH” (Exodus 9:14-16). Do you see it? God’s purpose was to proclaim His name through the earth. A one-shot, knockout punch would not have accomplished His purpose like a drawn out, ten-plague assault did.
WHAT ABOUT YOU…TODAY?
Whatever problem you might be facing in life (or will face later), realize that God wants to use it to show the world that He is the true God, and there is no one else like Him. [7] While we want deliverance now, God often waits to deliver.
Understandably, He gets MORE glory when we face a problem with His supernatural joy and peace than He does by simply delivering us in a snap of the fingers. Your lost friends, neighbors, and, especially, your loved ones, see Christ in you more clearly when you go through a trial with a song in your heart. When they see you rejoice even in hardships, they quietly think, “If my Christian mom, dad or friend can face that great trial and still have joy and peace, there must be something to this thing called Christianity. I wish I had what they have!” PRAISE GOD!
The Lord doesn’t expect you to ‘feel good’ about the difficulty you face today…that would be unreasonable. But what He does desire you to do is step out in faith …and as you take your problems to Him in prayer . . . give Him praise for them. Are you willing to do that? He wants to use your particular difficulties to proclaim His name through you to those watching you. Will you choose to see your hardships as a test — a test to see if you will trust God regardless of the circumstances so that the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Jesus can be sensed from your life (see Phil. 4:18). The great Apostle Paul wrote these words from prison, “But I would have you understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel” (Phil. 1:12). I love what one writer said, “Problems are not obstacles to faith, they are opportunities to show forth God’s faithfulness.” May it be so in you and me!
. . . Think it over!
Doug Pierce is a Church planter and a pastor. In 2003 he started, and continues to pastor First Independent Methodist Church in Madison, Mississippi. His #1 priority is to glorify God in all aspects of ministry. He does this through teaching his congregation to Love God, Love One Another, and Love Others to God. Prayer, outreach, and church growth through evangelism are vital parts of his ministry. He and his wife Suzanne live in Madison, Mississippi where they also enjoy their children and grandchildren. To find out more about Doug‘s ministry visit the FIMC Website
CGM wishes to thank PDPics for granting permission for the use of our feature photo.
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