When Obedience Hurts First: Why Rough Starts Don’t Mean God Isn’t Working

-

🗓️ Week 3 – Friday (July 18)



 When Obedience Hurts First: Why Rough Starts Don’t Mean God Isn’t Working

(Based on Exodus 5–7 and Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 257–265)

You followed God. You said yes.
And then… everything fell apart.

That’s exactly what happened to Moses.

He obeyed the voice from the burning bush, confronted Pharaoh with courage, and hoped for freedom.
Instead?
Pharaoh tightened his grip. Labor intensified. Israel’s pain multiplied. Hope dimmed.

“And they met Moses and Aaron … and said … Ye have made our scent to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh.” — Exodus 5:20-21, KJBPNV

🧱 Sun-Baked Bricks and Broken Spirits

Ellen G. White powerfully describes this season:

“The same day orders were issued that rendered their labor still more cruel and oppressive... The king now directed that no more straw be furnished.”
— Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 258

No straw. Same quota.
More beatings. More confusion.
And Moses, the newly appointed deliverer, is caught in the middle of it all.

🧠 So, What Do We Do With a Rough Start?

This lesson reminds us that:

  • Obedience doesn’t mean instant results

  • Sometimes God allows hardship to expose injustice and reveal His power

  • Disappointment doesn’t mean God is absent — it means the story isn’t finished yet

“Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh…” — Exodus 6:1, KJBPNV

💬 Discussion Reflections:

🟢 1. When Things Didn’t Go Well

Can you recall a time when following God led to more struggle before peace?
What did you learn from that season?

🟢 2. When God Intervened Unexpectedly

Have you ever had a moment where, in the middle of crisis, God showed up?
How did He prove His goodness?

🟢 3. When Someone Says, “I Don’t Know the Lord”

Not in rebellion, just in honesty.
What could you say — or show — to help someone meet Yahweh for the first time?

Try this:

  • Share your testimony, simply and sincerely

  • Show how knowing God changed your perspective, not just your circumstances

  • Point them to Jesus — the One who shows us exactly what God is like

✨ Key Truth:

Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better — but God never stops working.
Deliverance may be delayed, but it is never denied to those who trust in Him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Transformed Mind: From Gang Life to God’s Work

-
Image
🗓️ Faith in Action – Week 2 Weekend Feature All-Nations Center Image credit: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists / Adventist Mission. Used from the official Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, 3rd Quarter 2025. A Transformed Mind: From Gang Life to God’s Work As told by Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission Mitch was a tough gang member in Washington state. But a violent brawl left him with a traumatic brain injury so serious that doctors said, “You’ll never work again.” But someone believed otherwise. His younger brother, Stephan , invited him to the All Nations Center Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wapato, where he worshiped with their mother and sister. Mitch didn’t go willingly at first — but something happened. He kept going. Week after week. And then, he opened a Bible. 🧠 Hope in the Word Driven by the hope that Scripture could heal his damaged mind, Mitch grabbed hold of Romans 12:2 : “And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of ...
Read more

🌩️ Exodus Lesson 4: Hail, Locusts, and Darkness | Sabbath School Study (July 24, 2025)

-
Image
🌩️ Exodus Lesson 4: Hail, Locusts, and Darkness | Sabbath School Study (July 24, 2025) 🖼️ AI-generated image: symbolic representation of the seventh, eighth, and ninth plagues in Exodus Date: Thursday, July 24, 2025 Weekly Theme: Lesson 4 — The Plagues 🌪️ Hail, Locusts, and Darkness As the seventh, eighth, and ninth plagues fell upon Egypt, we see Yahweh directly confronting some of Egypt’s most revered deities. These were not random events, but targeted judgments—each one exposing the powerlessness of false gods and the ultimate authority of the Creator. 📖 Exodus 9:23 (KJBPNV) “‭And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and Yahweh sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and Yahweh rained hail upon the land of Egypt.” ☁️ The hailstorm challenged Nut , the Egyptian sky goddess, and Osiris , god of crops. The fire that mingled with the hail devastated Egypt’s food sources and declared Yahweh’s dominion over weather, life, ...
Read more

🩸 Covered by the Blood: Why Passover Points to the Messiah (Exodus 12) | July 29 Sabbath School

-
Image
🩸 Exodus Lesson 5: Covered by the Blood | Sabbath School Study (July 29, 2025) 🖼️ AI-generated image: Israelites marking their doorframes with lamb’s blood during Passover (Exodus 12) Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2025 Weekly Theme: Lesson 5 — Passover 🕊️ Pesach: Covered by the Blood In the first Passover, the blood of the lamb wasn’t symbolic — it was survival. As death loomed, God gave specific instructions: mark your home with blood. The destroying angel would pass over those who obeyed in faith. 📖 Exodus 12:13 (KJBPNV) “‭And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” God’s justice passed over them — not because they were better, but because of the blood. That’s the gospel. The lamb had to be perfect, foreshadowing the Messiah Himself. 📖 John 1:29 (KJBPNV) “‭The next day John saw Yahshua coming to him...
Read more