Exo 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

The children of Israel had left Egypt with great joy. Well, that joy didn’t last very long. For upon seeing the Egyptian armies chasing behind them, their joy dried out and fear set in, “and they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:11-12).

They had forgotten that it was through a mighty hand of God that they were able to leave Egypt. But now, upon seeing Pharaoh and his armies, they became slaves again. They saw death and graves. They saw hopelessness.

Maybe they were saying: “Blame it on Moses; it was all his fault. We should never have listened to him. Why has he brought us to this wilderness to die? Life was tough in Egypt but at least, we were alive. Now, we are going to die! It would be better to return to Egypt and serve the Egyptians! Let’s choose a leader who will take us back.”

How easy it is to complain, gripe and groan when things are not going as expected. Have you ever have this thought that life would be better if you had not become a Christian? You begin to look back to your former life and reminiscing how free you had been without Christ. Now, you feel God is controlling your life. You want to break free again. You want to go back to the world where you can be free again.

Perish the thought! Be on guard against this faithless form of thinking: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2). The devil wants you to feel defeated. He wants to rob you of your joy as Christian and go back to him. Instead, you should focus your mind on God’s promises: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelations 2:10).

Nothing on this earth is permanent; not even our troubles. When it feels like things are falling apart, we can trust that God is putting them all back together. When we focus on God, our troubles become “light afflictions”. Paul wrote: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The trials which Paul endured, to many persons would have seemed to be anything else but light, yet Paul speaks of them as the lightest conceivable things when compared with that eternal glory awaiting him.

We need to have this same mind of Paul – the glory awaiting before us is much more glorious and eternal compared to the sufferings we may be undergoing at this moment. Heaven will surely be worth it all.

Moses told the fearful Israelites: “The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:14). He directed them to leave it to God. We are never alone in this fight: The LORD shall fight for you. We need to heed the advice: “Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13). That’s exactly what we should do when we are troubled and worry too much – Stand Still.

A girl who will make a sacrifice to marry a poor man and it’s all because of love; life is a beautiful struggle when both are in love. Likewise, life is a beautiful struggle when we have God. Let us look forward instead of looking back: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Jimmy Lau
Psa 119:97 Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Pro 22:13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

A lion in the streets? That’s ridiculous! Lions live in the savannahs of Africa and in the zoos. Unless you live near a zoo, perhaps there is a chance that a lion may escape from the zoo and is roaming on your street. Otherwise, have no fear; there will not be a lion outside your house.

Solomon did not write: “The coward man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.” Well, that is the sensible thing to do if indeed there is a lion in the street; that’s not cowardice. But Solomon wrote: “The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.” He was talking about a lazy man. The lazy man will go to great lengths, even to the point of concocting the most ridiculous excuses in order to avoid work and fulfilling responsibility. The lion outside the lazy man’s house in this proverb is not real; rather, it is an image or picture that has been fabricated. It is the lazy man’s excuse not to work.

The chances of seeing a lion outside my house or anywhere in the town where I live are extremely remote. Many years ago, a black panther escaped from the zoo. The whole nation panicked. Many stayed at home. Some began to imagine things: even a black cat looked like the fugitive panther and they called the police.

Yet, how often do we create imaginary lions to avoid fulfilling our responsibilities? Oftentimes, we are the lazy man that Solomon is talking about. We imagine lions roaming outside our houses because we don’t want to go to a church service, or attend the mid-week bible class, or attend a fellowship or personal work session. We allow imaginary lions prowling outside our doors? We don’t say, “There’s a lion outside”, we say:

1. I have no time.
2. I have a headache.
3. I’m busy.
4. My children have homework.
5. Lack of talent.

Time, work, sickness, and children are the common excuses we make for not able to serve or attend any church services, bible classes, fellowship, gospel meetings, bringing a foreign guest out for a meal and etc. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor 5:10).

Children – As parents, we can easily turn our children into excuses to avoid fulfilling responsibilities. “The kids are too tired to attend Bible study, or they have too much homework.” “My children cannot sit still; they will disrupt the worship and bible class.” “My children slept very late last night; they can’t wake up.” “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4).

Talents – Exodus 3 and 4 record the attempt by Moses to evade his responsibility to free the Israelites by exaggerating his vocal impediment. “And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exo 4:10). Did Moses think God didn’t know about his speech impediment? But in an effort to avoid the responsibility God was putting on his shoulders, Moses exaggerated a kitten-sized problem into a lion-sized issue. Even men and women who are physically challenged can play sports and win Olympic gold medals; what excuses do you have? “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees” (Isa 35:3).

Sickness – Is a light cough or headache contagious? Did you go to work with your cough and headache? Epaphroditus, a fellow worker of Paul, was very sick to the point of nearing death. Yet, it did not stop him from working and showing concern for the brethren at Philippi (Phil 2:25-30). “Because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death, hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me” (Phil 2:30). What a faithful worker of God!

Time – We are all busy but we all have the same amount of time. How is it that some of our busy executives, doctors, managers and businessmen can attend most of the church activities and serve God? They manage their priorities! When you manage your priority, you know what to do first and you schedule time for it and fit the rest in with the other time left. But when your priority is not on mid-week bible class or church activities, you will not allocate time for them. “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psa 90:12).

The lazy man creates imaginary circumstances to justify not doing his work. The man who was given one talent had excuses for not doing anything with it. God wants commitment and not excuses. God said he was slothful (lazy) (Matt 25:24-27).

Think seriously about God’s judgment on that servant: Will God accept your excuses? Is the lion still in your street.

Jimmy Lau
Psa 119:97 Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.