“But he said, You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, Let us go, let us sacrifice to Jehovah” (Exodus 5:17).

Score one for Pharaoh. This chapter is nothing short of depressing. When we watch the movies we always see Moses come in with power. He is there before Pharaoh and he lays down his rod. The rod turns into a serpent and conquers Pharaoh’s serpents. Stop! This is not what happened with Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh they wanted to have a feast in the desert. Pharaoh said, “You have too much time on your hands.” He then doubles the work load by having them have to find straw for their bricks. Moses only made things harder.

When we stand for God and endure for His sake we need to be ready to get past that dreaded first step. People often talk about living for the Lord and stopping their fellowship with this world. They talk about how much they are willing to change. However, because of their new found desire for the Lord, they think the path will be easier. It is not. Too often when I say, “Lord from now on I am doing this (fill in the blank),” or “I am not doing that (Fill in),” my life becomes harder. Why? Becomes I am tested in exactly what I said I would or would not do. How do we endure through the first battle of any long process? Here are a few verses to remind us of who we should run to:

“The name of Jehovah is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe” (Psalm 18:10)

“casting all your anxiety onto Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

“Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” (Hebrews 12:1).

There seems to be a common theme to these verses. I think in all of them we get a sense of someone running to the Lord. Patience, endurance, and the ability to be steadfast are all qualities we cannot conjure up on our own. We must have help. We must run to Him.