Better Way Apostolic Church- Bible Class for Spiritual Success Subject: FRUSTRATION: Exodus

Better Way Apostolic Church- Bible Class for Spiritual Success

Subject: Trust God in your FRUSTRATION: Exodus 2:1-10

The deliverer born (Exodus 2:1-10) Amram and Jochebed were Moses' parents (6:20), and while the Exodus text emphasizes the faith of the mother, Hebrews 11:23 commends both the father and the mother for trusting God. Certainly it took faith for them to have normal marital relations during that dangerous time when Jewish babies were being killed. Moses became a great man of faith, and he learned it first from his godly parents. Amram and Jochebed already had two children: Miriam, who was the oldest, and Aaron, who was three years older than Moses (Exodus 7:7). From the very first, Moses was seen to be "no ordinary child" (Acts 7:20, NIV; see Hebrews 11:23), and it was evident that God had a special purpose for him. Believing this to be true, the parents defied Pharaoh's edict and kept their son alive. This wasn't easy to do since all the Egyptians were now Pharaoh's official spies, watching for babies to be drowned (Exodus 1:22). Jochebed obeyed the letter of the law when she put Moses in the waters of the Nile, but certainly she was defying Pharaoh's orders in the way she did it. She was trusting the providence of God and God didn't fail her. When the princess came to the Nile to perform her religious ablutions, she saw the basket, discovered the baby, and heard him cry; and her maternal instincts told her to rescue the child and care for him.

God used a baby's tears to control the heart of a powerful princess, and He used Miriam's words to arrange for the baby's mother to raise the boy and get paid for it! The phrase "as weak as a baby" doesn't apply in the kingdom of God; for when the Lord wants to accomplish a mighty work, He often starts by sending a baby. This was true when He sent Isaac, Joseph, Samuel, John the Baptist, and especially Jesus. God can use the weakest things to defeat the mightiest enemies (1 Corinthians 1:25-29). A baby's tears were God's first weapons in His war against Egypt.

The princess adopted Moses as her own son, which means that Moses had a favored position in the land and was given a special education for service in the government (Acts 7:22). In the Egyptian language, Moses means "born" or "son" and sounds like a Hebrew word that means "to draw out" (of the water). Years later, his name would remind Moses of the God who rescued him and did great things for him in Egypt. On more than one occasion, Moses would rescue his people because he trusted the Lord.

The deliverer prepared (Exodus 2:11-25)

Moses spent his first forty years (Acts 7:23) serving in the Egyptian bureaucracy. (Some students think he was being groomed to be the next pharaoh.) Egypt seems the least likely place for God to start training a leader, but God's ways are not our ways. In equipping Moses for service, God took several approaches.

Dr. Harold Durham- Pastor B-Trust God in your Frustration August 23, 2017 1 Education. "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds" (Acts 7:22, NKJV). What did that involve? Egypt had a highly developed civilization for its time, particularly in the areas of engineering, mathematics, and astronomy. Thanks to their knowledge of astronomy, they developed an amazingly accurate calendar, and their engineers planned and supervised the construction of edifices that are still standing. Their priests and doctors were masters of the art of embalming, and their leaders were skilled in organization and administration. Visitors to Egypt today can't help but be impressed with the accomplishments of this ancient people. The servant of God should learn all he can, dedicate it to God, and faithfully serve God.

Failure (v. 11-14). Though some people were confused about his racial identity (v. 19), Moses knew that he was a Hebrew and not an Egyptian, and he couldn't help but identify with the plight of his suffering people. One day he made a courageous decision to help his people, even if it meant losing his noble position as the adopted son of the royal princess (Hebrews 11:24-26). The pleasures and treasures of Egypt faded from view as he saw himself helping to liberate God's chosen people.

It's possible that the Egyptian officer wasn't just disciplining the Jewish slave but was beating him to death, because the Hebrew word can mean that, so when Moses interfered, he was probably saving a man's life. And, if the Egyptian officer turned on Moses, which is likely, then Moses was also defending his own life.

But if Moses was planning to free the Hebrews by killing the Egyptians one by one, he was in for a shock. The next day he discovered that the Egyptians were only part of the problem because the Jews couldn't even get along with each other! When he tried to reconcile the two Jews, they rejected his help! Even more, he learned that his secret was out and that Pharaoh was after his life. There was only one thing to do and that was to flee.

These two incidents reveal Moses as a compassionate man who was sincere in his motives but impetuous in his actions. Knowing this, you would never suspect that later he would be called "the meekest man on the earth" (Numbers 12:3). Moses' failure to help free the Jews must have devastated him. That's why God took him to Midian and made him a shepherd for forty years. He had to learn that deliverance would come from God's hand, not Moses' hand (Acts 7:25; Exodus 13:3).

Solitude and humble service (v. 15-25). Moses became a fugitive and fled to the land of the Midianites, relatives of the Jews (Genesis 25:2). True to his courageous nature, he assisted the daughters of Reuel, the priest of Midian (Exodus 2:18), and this led to hospitality in their home and marriage with one of the daughters, Zipporah, who bore him a son. Later, she would bear another son, Eliezer (18:1-4; 1 Chronicles 23:15). Reuel ("friend of God") was also known as Jethro (Exodus 3:1; 18:12,27), but Jethro ("excellence") may have been his title as priest rather than his given name.

The man who was "mighty in word and deed" is now in the lonely pastures taking care of stubborn sheep, but that was just the kind of preparation he needed for leading a nation of Dr. Harold Durham- Pastor B-Trust God in your Frustration August 23, 2017 2 stubborn people. Israel was God's special flock (Psalms 100:3) and Moses His chosen shepherd. Like Joseph's thirteen years as a slave in Egypt and Paul's three years' hiatus after his conversion (Galatians 1:16-17), Moses' forty years of waiting and working prepared him for a lifetime of faithful ministry. God doesn't lay hands suddenly on His servants but takes time to equip them for their work.

God's delays aren't evidence of unconcern, for He hears our groans, sees our plight, feels our sorrows, and remembers His covenant. What He has promised, He will perform, for He never breaks His covenant with His people. When the right time comes, God immediately goes to work. (from The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament © 2001-2004 by Warren W. Wiersbe. All rights reserved.) Living in the instant age, we have a low tolerance for anything that takes too much time. Naturally we become easily frustrated. The Bible takes the eternal view of things, so it values patience very highly. It also emphasizes the importance of turning over all our cares and worries to God, who is bigger that them all. If we are frustrated because we are out of control of our lives, we can find comfort with God who is in control of all things.

HOW SHOULD WE HANDLE FRUSTRATION?

When she could no longer hide him, she got a little basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile River. (Exodus 2:3)

IN THE MIDST OF FRUSTRATION, REMAIN OBEDIENT TO GOD. Moses’ mother knew how wrong it would be to destroy her child. But there was little she could do to change Pharaoh’s new law. Her only alternative was to hide the child and later place him in a tiny papyrus basket on the river. God used her courageous act to place her son, the Hebrew of his choice, in the house of Pharaoh. Do you sometimes feel surrounded by evil and frustrated by how little you can do about it? When faced with evil, look for ways to act against it. Then trust God to use your effort, however small it seems, in his war against evil.

Yet your real motive-I know this was your intent-was to watch me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my iniquity. (Job 10:13-14) AVOID MAKING IMPORTANT DECISIONS WHEN YOU’RE FRUSTRATED. In frustration, Job jumped to the false conclusion that God was out to get him. Wrong assumptions lead to wrong conclusions. We dare not take our limited experiences and jump to conclusions about life in general.

If you find yourself doubting God, remember that you don’t have all the facts. God wants only the very best for your life. Many people endure great pain, but ultimately they find some greater good came from it. When you’re struggling, don’t assume the worst. Now a word to you fathers. Don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord. Ephesians 6:4) Dr. Harold Durham- Pastor B-Trust God in your Frustration August 23, 2017 3 DON’T BE THE CAUSE OF FRUSTRATION IN OTHERS. The purpose of parental discipline is to help children grow, not to exasperate and provoke them to anger or discouragement (see also Colossians 3:21). Parenting is not easy-it takes lots of patience to raise children in a loving, Christ-honoring manner.

DON’T BE MOTIVATED BY FRUSTRATION. Frustration and anger should not be causes for discipline. Instead, parents should act in love, treating their children as Jesus treats the people he loves. This is vital to children’s development and to their understanding of what Christ is like.

FRUSTRATION

Frustration has many faces-you may feel baffled, canceled, crippled, defeated, disappointed, dissatisfied, intercepted, neutralized, undermined, or inhibited. Frustration empties you, confuses you, undercuts you, and makes you feel like you were so close and yet so far away. The Bible says that frustrations are a part of living in this sinful world. And one of the biggest is the way sin and evil seem so often to frustrate good. But God offers us the bigger picture: Frustrations are temporary obstacles that can be overcome, not by eliminating them, but by persevering through them. WHAT FRUSTRATES GOD? Psalm 78:40-42 . . . Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the desert and grieved his heart in the wilderness. Again and again they tested God’s patience and frustrated the Holy One of Israel. They forgot about his power and how he rescued them from their enemies. Hosea 6:4 . . . “O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the Lord. “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.” It is frustrating to God to send out unending streams of love, mercy, and forgiveness to his people, only to see them dam these streams of blessings and keep their souls a spiritual desert.

WHY DO WE GET FRUSTRATED? Micah 6:15 . . . You will plant crops but not harvest them. You will press your olives but not get enough oil to anoint yourselves. You will trample the grapes but get no juice to make your wine. Sometimes we are frustrated when we work hard for something but it doesn’t happen. James 4:3 . . . Even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong-you want only what will give you pleasure. Sometimes we are frustrated in our prayers, expecting certain answers that never come because we have the wrong motives. We fail to see how God is protecting us from what will hurt us. Job 10:13-22 . . . Why, then, did you bring me out of my mother’s womb? Why didn’t you let me die at birth? Pain and suffering bring frustration. Dr. Harold Durham- Pastor B-Trust God in your Frustration August 23, 2017 4 Psalm 94:3 . . . How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? We should be frustrated by the evil all around us.

HOW AM I TO RESPOND TO FRUSTRATION? Proverbs 21:2 . . . People may think they are doing what is right, but the Lord examines the heart. Examining the source of our frustration helps us know how to deal with it. There is a big difference between being frustrated in our quest to do good and being frustrated because we are not getting our way. Each must be dealt with differently. Joshua 1:9 . . . Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Don’t be discouraged. You have a source of strength and courage to see you through. Exodus 17:4 . . . Then Moses pleaded with the Lord, “What should I do with these people?”

John 6:5-7 . . . Philip, where can we buy bread to feed all these people? Recognize that some of our problems don’t have a human solution. We must take them to God. Only he is able to handle some of them. Ephesian 6:4 . . . Don’t make your children angry by the way you scold them. Be careful what you say when you are frustrated.

HOW CAN I BEST DEAL WITH FRUSTRATION? Ecclesiastes 1:8 . . . Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. Ecclesiastes 2:20 . . . I turned in despair from hard work. It was not the answer to my search for satisfaction in this life. Psalm 90:14 . . . Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Acts 17:25 . . . Human hands can’t serve his needs-for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is. We are frustrated when we fail to let God be God, or when we try to understand the reasons for everything that happens. When we let go and let God work out what is best for us, we will relieve much of our frustration.

DOES GOD EVER CAUSE FRUSTRATION? Job 5:12 He frustrates the plans of the crafty.

PROMISE FROM GOD: Joshua 1:9 . . . I command you-be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

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