Disappointment

Exo 5:22  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 

Disappointment! Well, that’s what the text above is telling us. What had gone wrong? Moses had delivered the Word of the LORD to Pharaoh. He said what God had told him to say. He obediently did what he was expected to do. But Pharaoh did not listen but instead increased the burden of the Hebrew slaves. Obviously, life became very much tougher for the Hebrew slaves.

They blamed Moses: “The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us” (Exodus 5:21).

The LORD look upon you, and judge – It means, “We hope the LORD will punish both of you for making the king and his officials hate us. Now they have an excuse to kill us.”  

Moses was obviously disappointed as them. The very people he had come to help were now cursing him for increasing their hardships and anguish: “It was all Moses’ fault; why can’t he just go back to Midian and leave us alone.”

Moses couldn’t understand it too. He did what God had told him to do but it didn’t work as planned. He asked God:  “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?” (Exodus 5:22, ESV).

He wished he had never been sent and would be glad to return to Midian and lived a peaceful life as a shepherd. It was the darkest point in his life. He didn’t volunteer for the job. He thought with God managing it, it would be easy; but it wasn’t. Worse, still, the people he came to help didn’t understand the difficulty of the job but cursed him for making their lives more miserable. He faced total rejection from his own people.

Being misunderstood hurts all the way to the bone. “I was only trying to help.” You did a good deed but someone misjudged you, reading motives into your acts or words that you never intended. And now you feel dejected. You meant good but you met with ungrateful people who turned against you. You ask: “Why? Why me? Is it my fault?”

Moses was at a loss. He didn’t know what to say to their complaint. He went back to God. It drove Moses to prayer. It is what we must do when we are down; we go to God. God is the only one who will understand us. God won’t accuse us falsely. Let us put our trust in God for He will never fail us: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

It is never easy to be a leader. There will be resistance and obstacles to overcome. There will be some who will not be on your side. You may have to endure the misunderstanding of friends and loved ones. Be assured that if the task is of God, the devil will seek to discourage you and make people turn against you. It is in such circumstances we need to put our trust in God. He has promised: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

If the work is of God’s, let us do it with all our might. Let us not be affected by the words of the critics who only want to discourage us. Gamaliel was right in saying the fight is not against us but God (Acts 5:39). Those who oppose the work of God are fighting against God.

Moses was discouraged and he went back to God. Let us do likewise. 

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.