When I'm bad I'm hopeful!

The other day, I was sitting in my accountants office. I told him I had good news and bad news. So he asks, “What’s the bad news?”
I said, “I can’t make my house payment; my truck payment; my electric bill and my cat is pregnant.”
He replied, “Well, what’s the good news?”
I stated, “the good news is I’m going to keep you as my accountant!”

Okay, so this was a joke but I told it to represent that even with bad news there is always good in they’re somewhere. Have you ever had a truly bad day?

I have been reading a lot about Moses lately. Specifically, Exodus Chapter 5 & 6. Moses had accepted the call of God and had secured the release of his father-in-law and began his journey back to Egypt. On the way Moses met up with Aaron whom God had sent out to meet his brother. Bare with me I do have a point here.

When Moses and Aaron arrive they summon a meeting of the elders where they revealed all the words that God had given him and showed them the signs of God’s power .

The people believed and now the easy part was over and it was time to relay to Pharaoh the message of God. The acceptance of the people was very reassuring but confronting Pharaoh was another story. In fact Moses’ bad day began when he gained an audience with the King!

The scene is decidedly a dramatic one as two eighty year old men stand before the most powerful man on earth. That was the start of a bad day and it all went down hill from there. “And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.”

Pharaoh’s response is completely negative. Pharaoh asks, “Who is Jehovah that, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?.. I do not know Jehovah.” How tragic! It is not that Pharaoh has never heard of the name of Jehovah, he undoubtedly has, it is that he refuses to recognize the name or the request brought in that name. The point with Pharaoh lies in the word “obey.” He understood that these men were not presenting him with a request but rather a mandate from one greater than himself.

“To appreciate the audacity of the demand we must remember the unbridled power and authority claimed by Pharaohs. For him all other men lived, suffered and died. For him vast armies of priest and magicians and courtiers wrought and ministered.”

At once the situation worsened for the Children of Israel. I want you to note that all these developments were taking place within one twenty four hour period. Pharaoh proclaims, “Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.”
As desperate as their plight may have been it is about to get worse. Pharaoh’s response was to make slavery more bitter, and the bondage heavier and the tasks more difficult. The apparent hardening of attitude tells us something. Satan is worried. So keep on praying. Sometimes things have to get a whole lot worse before people are ready to hear the truth.

I want you to consider for a moment how the response of the people must have affected Moses. All those memories of rejection and inadequacy came flooding backing to the heart of Moses. He must have had a strong urge to run and hide to escape back to the quiet life of a shepherd.

Moses did run!! But this time he ran straight to his source of strength. Moses poured out all his anxiety to the only one who could answer his questions. In verse 22 it says, “So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?”

Moses is saying, “Where did I go wrong?” He had stood before Pharaoh and repeated almost word for word what God had told him to say. When things do not go the way we think they should, we begin asking the how and why questions: “Why me? Why me? Why now? Why did I ever get my hope up? Why did I ever accept this job? If God is on my side why has this happened to me? How am I going to get through this or out of this? ”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. Whoa! That’s scary, take it from me, You don’t want to tick off the Lord! For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the LORD.”

Notice that God does not reprimand Moses for asking questions. He never shames or slaps you in the face when you come to Him. God reassures Moses of his intent and purposes. Instead of criticizing Moses for asking, “Why” the Lord, just says wait and watch. God’s response was that it was time to impress Pharaoh. The king needed a good dose of God’s power.

God has great compassion for us and for our need. No matter what our problem, sin or shame he desires to help us. We are more important to God that what we have done or accomplished. This may be difficult to understand in a world that measures us by our accomplishments or the lack of them.

Until you fix your eyes upon Jesus you will not be able to handle those days that go from bad to worse.

Beginning in verse six the LORD reminds Moses of his promises. “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD.’

Seven times, in verses six through eight, God says, “I will.” “I will bring you out…I will rescue you….I will redeem you…I will take you to me as My people….I will be your God…I will bring you into the land…I will give you as a heritage.”

So what does Moses do when his bad day takes a turn for the worse? You can’t beat Moses’ plan. He came back to the Lord. Moses had been discouraged, he was frustrated, he felt helpless, but he kept coming back. And the Lord met him every time.

Moses, armed only with a piece of wood he had found in the desert to use as a staff and assisted by his brother Aaron, began waging war on the mightiest force in the world at that time, a war that ultimately left the throne of Egypt vacant, the pharaoh dead, all of Egypt in mourning and the children of Israel free.

No matter how bad we’ve had it in life, it was nothing in comparison to the life of Moses. This teaches us a lesson about bad days. WE NEED TO LOOK BEYOND THOSE BAD DAYS. We need to live by faith. We need to realize that the bad things of this world are not the end! In the light of eternity and the glory of heaven, the bad things of this life are nothing!

Hebrews 4:14-16 "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Moses understood this even when he was having a BAD DAY! Though Moses went through some really tough times, Jesus went through the worst days of all.

Jesus left heaven for earth. He’s seen it all. Endured it all. Consequently, He understands everything we’re going through. He is completely sympathetic. Let us approach Him, walk with Him, live with Him. He will show us mercy and give us grace to overcome.

When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm hopeful! Why? God says I’m good, so I must be very good. He doesn’t do things half way. When I’m bad, God is using this as a learning experience; for wisdom; for love and for truth. We must take these bad days as a blessing from God as well. A hurdle given to us for growth!

My prayer is that the word bad would just disappear. How about we change this word. From now on, the word bad means “Hope”!