3.087 Moses Returned to the Lord
Show Notes
This episode delves into Exodus 5:22, where Moses, facing immense failure and frustration in his mission to free Israel, returns to the Lord to question why these hardships are occurring. Allen Roberds reflects on Moses' powerful example, presenting it as a blueprint for believers to turn to God during tough times and challenges, rather than walking away from their faith.
Key Points
- Moses experienced significant challenges and perceived failures while trying to free the children of Israel, leading him to express his frustrations directly to the Lord in Exodus 5:22.
- The podcast emphasizes that following the Lord does not guarantee an easy path; in fact, it often ensures a more difficult one due to higher spiritual standards.
- Moses' action of 'returning to the Lord' in his moment of struggle serves as a profound blueprint for believers to seek counsel and share their frustrations with God, rather than abandoning their faith.
- Listeners are encouraged to apply Moses' example by returning to the Lord through prayer, scripture study, family support, and temple worship during personal challenges and perceived failures.
- Even when the 'endgame' is unclear, like it was for Moses, the lesson is to stay connected and wrestle with the Lord, rather than walking away from Him.
I think Moses gives us a wonderful, simple blueprint: return to the Lord.
Episode Resources
Full Transcript
In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reminding us that our lives are meant to preserve, illuminate, and point others to Him. This season on Savory Salt, we'll walk through the Old Testament, one verse and one thought each day. Perhaps these moments will add greater savor and brighter light to our lives as we seek to truly live as Savory Salt.
Hello, my friends, it's a new day with new opportunities. Choose ye this day whom you will serve. You ever wondered why you have to go through the tough times, the challenges, the pain, the struggles, the failures?
You're not alone. Moses wondered that too, and so did many of the other prophets we have in Scripture, both modern and ancient. We are in the middle of Moses struggling to get the children of Israel free from under the hand of Pharaoh in Egypt.
We are reading this week Exodus chapters 1-6. And inside of this adventure, Moses has some serious down moments. One of those comes at the end of Exodus chapter 5.
It's a moment that, in other scriptural terms and other Savory Salt episodes, we talked about from other prophets' perspectives, but Moses gives us a new bit of insight to take a look at and apply in our lives. Our verse for today is Exodus 5, verse 22. As Moses is experiencing some more failure and some more challenge, and some more pushback, it says, And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people?
Why is it that thou? Why are these people treated so badly? And why am I here?
Why me? We've talked about the why me question before. Here's another prophet saying, why me?
Why am I selected? You know, there's plenty of challenges that we face in our mortal lives. Some of them are self-induced from our own choices, but many of them are just.
What did he do at the beginning of the verse? "And Moses returned unto the Lord." My friends, how many examples do we have in Scripture of times when it gets rough, of people turning away from the Lord because of the challenge and difficulty? Here we have an example of Moses, in the challenge and the difficulty, returning to the Lord to ask and share his frustrations with the Lord. My friends, I think there's a great lesson inside of there for us.
Following the Lord does not ensure a simple path for us. In many cases, it ensures a more difficult path for us as we hold ourselves to higher and different standards than those of the world. But in those challenging times, I think Moses gives us a wonderful, simple blueprint: return to the Lord.
I can think of times when I've had challenges in my life. And I don't mean challenges like just life challenges. I mean, I have failed.
Or at least I've felt like I've failed in the moment. And something that stands out to me this time, in this verse, as Moses returned unto the Lord to seek out and understand his purpose, is Moses doesn't have the endgame in sight. We know the end of Moses' story, but he doesn't.
In this timeline of his experiences, he doesn't know that all these things are going to happen. He doesn't know he's going to. In your scripture study, do it with your family members and ask for their support to help you return to the Lord.
Do it in your prayers. Do it in your scripture study. Do it with your family members and ask for their support to help you return to the Lord.
Do it in the temple. Spend time with the Lord. Wrestle with him if you must, as others in the scriptures have done.
But don't walk away from the Lord in those challenges. I think that's a powerful lesson that we receive from Moses here, as in the moments of his challenges and the time that he wonders why he's called to do what he does. He returns to the Lord to seek counsel from him and continue to learn.
That's a lesson we all can take a little bit more into our lives and hopefully be a little more savory because of it. That's all for today, my friends. You and I have come here for such a time as this.
Step forward in faith, and let's be Savory Salt. We will be here tomorrow, and we hope you are too.
This transcript was generated using AI and may contain errors. I do my best to review and edit them when I can.