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Exodus 4:18-6 – Praying through the Bible #24 – A Prayer of a Successful Failure
If you plan to fail and you fail, did you fail or succeed? More than just a funny conundrum, the answer may be a little too close to home, too personal and applicable. Add to that this: If you don’t succeed according to how God wants you to succeed, did you fail or did God succeed? More than word games, this is serious spiritual business.
How would you judge Moses’ first “missionary journey” to Pharaoh? His message is simple, “Let My people go.” Notice carefully though, Moses is not giving an ultimatum. “Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness” (Ex 5.1) Speaking as God, Moses is not asking for emancipation, just a holy celebration. In today’s parlance, “Let My people off on Sunday so they can go to worship.”
Before Moses goes, he and Aaron prepare the children of Israel. Hearing God cares, that God has heard their prayers (2.23), very appropriately “they bowed down and worshiped” (Ex 4.40). Afterwards, they blame Moses when the plan “fails.” “May the LORD take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek in front of Pharaoh and his officials – putting a sword in their hand to kill us” (Ex 5.21)! All too typical, blaming the wrong people and giving up too soon.
Before Moses preaches, Pharaoh has Egyptians supply the straw for the slaves’ brick making. Afterwards, not only is Israel not liberated, their labor is sorer. No more straw provided, they must provide their own while unrealistically keeping up their quota (5.7-8,18). Unable to succeed, their taskmasters beat them (5.14,16). I wonder if Pharaoh planned for their failure which means his plan succeeded. Their appeal to the high court, to Pharaoh, falls on a hardened heart (5.15-18). Adding insult to their injuries, they are now wrongfully accused as slackers (5.17).
On all fronts, Moses fails and blames himself in prayer (6.12,30)…except the plan was for Moses to fail. God foretold: “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do in front of Pharaoh all the wonders I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won’t let the people go” (4.21). Moses and Aaron “repeated everything the LORD had said to Moses” (4.29-30). Everyone should have been prepared for failure, but when the “failure” succeeded, everyone thought the success failed. God’s plan for Israel is for ultimate success, but not immediate, temporary success. None of this is just about “now,” just about Israel. The plan of hardening begins with asking Pharaoh not for full freedom, but for freedom to worship. So was God’s plan a failure or a success?
Prayer Challenge: Are quitters and blamers; blind to God’s methods of preparedness; concerned only with how things affect us; looking only at “now?” What we view as failures could have been great successes if we had not failed God. Maybe some present “failures” are just waiting to be successes. Now pray for God’s wisdom and patience to work God plans. After all, after all these failures, God still succeeded.
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