Dealing with Despair

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26)

The record of the life of Moses in the Bible is a story that tells us about the successes and failures of the man Moses. Few have walked this earth and experienced such contrasting experiences of despair and joy.

As I have written in other articles, we are all created for a purpose, and we find that purpose for our lives by developing a relationship with God, listening to his voice, and following his plan for our lives. Moses was a prophet, but he was unique among all other prophets in his age, and in the ages to come before Jesus came to earth, in that he regularly talked directly with God:

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. (Exodus 33:11)

When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. (Numbers 12:6-8)

Moses carried on conversations with God, apparently in his Hebrew dialect. The task God was giving to Moses was so fantastic, so significant, that God had to make sure there was no doubt in Moses’ mind that it was him who was speaking to him, and telling him what his purpose in life was.

Moses was a Hebrew born in Egypt during a time when all the Hebrew baby boys were commanded to be put to death. Moses’ mother hid him and he was found by the king of Egypt’s daughter. So he was raised by a princess.

When he became an adult, however, he saw how his people were mistreated as slaves, and apparently God put it in his heart to be the deliverer of his people. Unfortunately, he tried to do this in his own way, and ended up murdering an Egyptian who was beating one of the Hebrew slaves. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, heard about it and tried to kill Moses, but Moses ran away into the desert to hide. He lived there for 40 years as a shepherd, got married, and raised a family.

Then one day, God appeared to him in a burning bush, and started talking to him. He told Moses to go back to Egypt and deliver his people from their bondage as slaves. He made it clear to Moses that he would be with him and that he would show his power to Pharaoh. Moses did everything he could to try and convince God that he had the wrong man, but God was not persuaded. This was God’s purpose and plan for Moses, and when your Creator talks to you face to face in your own language, there can be no doubt!

So Moses goes to Egypt along with his brother Aaron to confront the king and watch God make a fool of Pharaoh, and bring about a great deliverance for his people. He told his people the news, performed a couple of miracles and they cheered him on. Everything was going well. God spoke to Moses. Moses listened. Moses obeyed. Moses followed the plan perfectly. But then his world fell apart.

I am convinced that Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh as recorded in Exodus chapter 5 was probably the lowest point of his life. He did everything God asked him to do, but it only infuriated Pharaoh, and in turn he made life even more difficult for the Hebrews, increasing their labor and hardship. The Hebrews wanted nothing to do with Moses after that (I am sure some wanted to kill him), and Pharaoh had basically laughed at Moses and mocked him and his God. Moses did everything right, but everything turned out wrong! The result was loneliness, anger, and despair.

Scripture does not tell us how long the interval was between Moses’ first and second encounter with Pharaoh. His subsequent meetings with Pharaoh were much more successful. It could have been days, weeks, months, or even longer before he dared to go back to Pharaoh a second time in obedience to God. We do see that the conversation between Moses and God continued during this time, as Moses expressed his anger and complained to God: Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all." (Exodus 5:22-23)

Since Moses himself is the one who recorded these events, there is probably a lot he left out in his writings of this time period, since it was such a depressing time for him. I imagine his complaining and anger towards God were much more involved than what is recorded here! He would naturally be brief in his record of those dark days, and instead emphasize the victories that followed in his writings. After such humiliation and disgrace, I am sure there were many other conversations with God, and there are 39 verses written before the next encounter with Pharaoh happened, suggesting that this was the longest interval between Moses’ encounters with Pharaoh. It was undoubtedly one of the darkest periods of his life, if not the darkest. He was alone and rejected by his people, and even his wife (who was a Midianite, a descendant of Ishmael and not a Hebrew) had abandoned him on the way to Egypt, returning to her father with their children. But God had not abandoned him, and he kept talking to him. Moses listened. He didn’t have too many other choices.

Most of us know the rest of the story, and how God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and inflicted many plagues on him and his country, until they lost everything. The Hebrews plundered their wealth and left their life of slavery in Egypt to journey to the Promised Land. God did just what he said he would do, and Moses became one of the most famous people in all human history. Imagine how the course of human history would have changed if Moses had given up after that first encounter with Pharaoh, where Pharaoh mocked him and then punished his people in return by making their lives more miserable. It would have been easy for Moses to give up after his first defeat. After all, his family was back in Midian, his home of 40 years, and how were they supposed to get along without him? He could have come up with some very good reasons to quit and go back home. And who would have blamed him? Everyone would probably have been happy to see him leave at that point! They were undoubtedly saying things to him like: "Nice try Moses, but go back to the desert where you belong! You're only making things worse here!" But that wasn’t God’s plan, and Moses chose to keep listening to God and to keep doing what he told him to do, even in the face of complete opposition and humiliation.

There are some incredible lessons for us to learn from Moses’ life, and his conversations with God. When we listen to God and obey his plan for our life, there is no guarantee that things are always going to go well. In fact, we may experience some of the most difficult times in our life just after making a decision to obey God and to take a step in faith. We may find depressing times in our life where everyone has abandoned us. During those times, it is crucial to follow Moses’ example, and to not turn away from God in anger during those times. Being angry and expressing our anger to God is OK, but we need to keep talking to God and keep listening to him, so we can believe and trust that there is master plan that will all work out in the end. That’s what faith is. Faith is trusting in God not only when things are going well, but when life is darkest. It is easy to trust God when things are going well and we are seeing God work and do incredible things in our life. But faith is what is needed when we sink to the lowest pits of despair. Blaming God will do no good in such situations. We need to express to him our feelings, but then we need to listen to his response. He won’t disappoint us like others in our life will.

Are you going through difficulties today? Are you turning towards God in your situation, or away from him? Are you listening to him, or avoiding him? One way leads to despair and sickness, the other way leads to healing and restoration by strengthening our faith.

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:6-9)

Was this article helpful to you? Share it with others:

The Ultimate Training Program

Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

Physical fitness and training is a huge business in our culture today, as we become a more sedentary population in the age of science and technology. During biblical times, the apostle Paul often referred to athletic events that were a part of the Roman culture and the precursor to today’s Olympic Games:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9:24-25)

Athletes must plan and implement a specific plan to train physically in order to compete successfully. Likewise today, many of us who lead sedentary lifestyles must make specific plans to stay physically fit through regular exercise, or our health will deteriorate.

But Paul told Timothy that training to be godly was far more beneficial for one’s health than physical training. He stated that physical training was only of some value, whereas godliness has value for all things. Physical training is only good for as long as your body lasts in this life, while godly training has value both in the present life and also in the future life to come. This principle is especially true in our modern society, as we exalt and emphasize the physical realm, and either ignore or deny the spiritual realm altogether.

So what is “godliness?” It is a lifestyle that honors God as the Creator of all things; a lifestyle that is lived out of a correct doctrine of who God is, and who Jesus is. Notice how Paul starts chapter 4 in his first letter to Timothy:

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. (1 Timothy 4:1-7)

So godliness begins with correct thinking; correct teaching that starts with a foundation of understanding that Jesus is our Creator and our redeemer. False teaching begins with the foundation that there is no God, and that life is a part of the evolutionary process. One doctrine leads to godliness and health, the other leads to ungodliness and death.

As has been written previously, there are two spiritual kingdoms in the world today: the Kingdom of Light ruled by Jesus in the spiritual realm, and the kingdom of darkness ruled by Satan in the spiritual realm. We are all members of one kingdom or the other. The kingdom of darkness in its current modern form is built upon a foundation of evolution that worships science and technology. The Kingdom of God is built upon the firm foundational truths contained in the Scriptures, the ancient writings of the Bible, which teach that God is the Creator of all things, and that Jesus is the mediator between God and man offering eternal salvation through his sacrificial death on the cross.

Just as it takes discipline to become physically fit, so too it takes discipline to become godly. If you never exercise, you just naturally become flabby and fat without too much effort. The same is true spiritually. If you don’t make any effort to study God’s word regularly, and spend time with him in prayer regularly, you will just naturally become ungodly without much effort. The result is that you will look just like those walking in the kingdom of darkness. But if we train ourselves to be godly, we will naturally clash with the kingdom of darkness, and suffer persecution:

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:12-17)

We are very fortunate that we do NOT have to be godly to be loved and accepted by God. He loves us with an unconditional love, simply because he created us and sent Jesus to die for our sins. But if we want to find purpose and meaning in life, fulfilling God’s specific plan for why he created us, then we need to make a commitment to go into training to become godly people. It doesn’t happen naturally. Each day you should take time to spend with God, letting the Holy Spirit direct your thinking into the truths of God’s word, and applying the scriptural principles to your own specific life and situation. Just as there is pain, suffering and self-denial in training to be an athlete, so too there is pain, suffering, and self-denial in becoming godly. It takes training in faith to go against the crowd that is walking in the darkness, and who will mock you and even attack you for being godly. But it’s worth it! Have you begun the ultimate training program yet?

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)

Was this article helpful to you? Share it with others:

What Kind of Sign is Your Life?

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

In the previous article (Life’s Not Fair!) we looked at the life of Joseph, and saw how he was treated unfairly. He had to live many years as both a slave and a prisoner, suffering for wrongs he never committed. But he never abandoned God’s calling in his life, and the dreams that God had given to him as a youth. The result was that he prospered in everything he did, and people were drawn to him, and trusted in him. His life was like a giant billboard, testifying about his faith in God, and people looked to him for help.

What kind of sign is your life? When the difficulties of life overwhelm you, what do people read in you? Do they see a person of faith trusting in the love and grace of God, or do they see someone who complains and gets angry over the trials of life?

The church in Thessalonica was a shining example of believers facing adversity in the days of Paul. They faced tremendous persecution for the stand they took for Christ, and their faith was like a big billboard proclaiming who they were trusting in, as Paul wrote: “among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.” (2 Thessalonians 1:4)

Paul prayed for these believers in Thessalonica the prayer that is recorded above. When God calls us out of the kingdom of darkness and brings us into his kingdom, it is not something we have earned or deserve. We simply receive his calling in our life by faith. But once he brings us into his kingdom, it should be our goal to become worthy of his calling. It is not something we can do in our own strength, which is why Paul prayed that the Thessalonian believers would receive God’s power to accomplish his purpose in their lives, and that their actions would be prompted by faith instead of fear, or anger. They faced tremendous persecution and suffering for following Christ.

He then goes on to give the reason why he prayed for this: “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him.” Our lives are to be a sign to others that the message of Jesus is real. The strength by which we are to face trials and suffering to display this sign is “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The grace of God is a power that nothing in this world can overcome. Paul goes on to write later in the letter: “May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

Facing loss of family, job, and even life for the result of believing in Christ is not something most people in America have to face. Yet many Christians around the world today do face these kinds of trials as a result of their faith in Christ. Their life is a sign to others that the gospel of Jesus is true, and that it is possible to forsake the ways of the world and fully trust in God.

One of the places where this kind of persecution is currently happening today is in Nigeria. Here is a letter from a believer in Nigeria as posted on the Christian Aid website this week:

I want to give you the following story, just told me by Pastor Darlington Elekwa, who was discipling the boy. Darlington was one of my student leaders in the early '80s:

“I learned just this morning how my beloved boy, John Nfon Nsima, was murdered in cold blood by terrorists at Gada Bako, Nasarawa Gwom. He was only 20 years old. One of John’s colleagues was taking him home on a motor bike. About 100 Muslim youths waylaid them, demanding that they declare that they have become Muslims. The rider of the motorbike did, but John refused. He maintained that he was a Christian and would die a Christian. Right there, they cut him down on the spot with axes and machetes. They gave the other one some cuts and let him go.

This surviving colleague of John's who rode the motorbike told us the story. We have gone round all the hospitals in search of his remains, but to no avail. Unfortunately his body must have been among hundreds of others given mass burial. We are obviously proud of our late brother who stood gallantly and refused to deny Christ even in the face of death.”

You can read more here.

John Nfon Nsima’s life in Nigeria was a sign that pointed people to Jesus. God made him worthy of the calling in which he was called. And through God’s grace, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was glorified in him, and now he is glorified in Christ.

How about your life? What kind of sign are people reading in you? Is the name of Jesus glorified in you? Or do you look like the majority around you in the world today, walking in the kingdom of darkness?

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)

Was this article helpful to you? Share it with others: