Bricks Without Straw

I can relate…you have in your mind the idea of a promise, a grand deliverance, the revelation of His power. You can even see the manifestation in front of you (Moses), yet instead of your salvation…you are asked to make bricks without straw. You won’t, in fact, be rescued. Not only will you be staying where you are, you will be required to maintain your current pace and energy without the help you had been previously given. How disheartened, infuriated, and confused the Israelites must have felt! They were supposed to be moving forward, but for each step there were 8 backwards. Even the man closest to the Deliver turned to the doubts in his heart, “O L-rd, why have you brought trouble upon these people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people and you have not rescued your people at all!” Poor Moses, not only did he really not trust himself to do this job in the first place, but it is evident he felt (and looked) like a colossal failure. Wasn’t he supposed to be redeeming these people with the help of the Father? No one said anything about making bricks without straw. I understand his bewilderment…they were not supposed to be struggling…where was the promise?

This was not the awe-inspiring deliverance they were anticipating. In this moment, the Israelites weren’t seeing what they expected or desperately hoped for. They didn’t see Him act, but did He ever talk… “Now you will see what I will do…because of my mighty hand…I am the L-rd…I have remembered my covenant with you…I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians…I will free you…I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and a mighty hand of judgment…then you will know that I am the L-rd your G-d!” I read those words and I think…yeah…wow…I can wait a little longer to see all those things happen! Your time is my time Abba, I will wait on the L-rd to renew my strength, to lift me out of the pit. You promised redemption, so I trust that it will come at the perfect time. But I forget that the Israelites were tired. They were tired of waiting, they were tired of words, and they were tired of making bricks without straw…they were too tired to put their faith in His promise. Look at their response, “Moses reported this [G-d’s Promise] to the Israelites, but they did not hear him because of their broken spirits (discouragement) and cruel bondage.”

How scary are those words! As I read this passage and feel the pain and confusion the Israelites and Moses must have felt, that last part hits me like a K train. It’s a giant warning sign; I can see my future…and my present. They did not hear him because of their broken spirits…HIM. These past few months, the demons of discouragement and frustration have been overactive in my spirit. The constant wearing down of enthusiasm, keeping your mind in a state of exhaustion that can leave you barely recognizing yourself…it’s a powerful and deceptive tool. I have found myself groaning and grumbling, crying out to the Father to remember His promise to me...to deliver the relief I have in my mind. I have been entirely focused on the fact that I am being asked to make bricks without straw. I have to stop and ask myself a serious question: am I missing it?

Am I missing the hope that the future promise holds, am I missing the trust in my Father’s timing, am I missing the incomparable power of my Almighty G-d? Somewhere amongst bricks without straw, hardened hearts, and the seemingly miraculous acts the evil one is able to perform…I have missed the promise. The promise that my Abba gives to me: redemption, might, relief, power, glory. And I don’t want to miss it…I don’t want to miss the part where He speaks comfort to me while I make those bricks. I don’t want to miss Him coming down in his eternal glory and annihilating the evil one. I don’t want to miss Him redeeming me, and the people of China. I don’t want to miss the moment after salvation, when He wraps me in His arms and says, “See my precious one, my love, I always said I would come for you.” The Israelites received their redemption…the second most incredible story of redemption in history…and they waited 400 years. I ask only for the strength to wait a while longer – with open eyes and a fearsome spirit that trusts his promise completely. And it will come. Until then, I’ll be the one cheerfully making bricks without straw…