Tag: Hard Times

What does the Book of Exodus Teach us about Spiritual Warfare in Real Life?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed- 1st Peter 4:11-13 ESV

I recently started reading through the book of Exodus with a friend. It’s been a minute (as the kids say) since I read Exodus and whenever I reread a book I haven’t read in a while God reveals some new insights. So far, its chapters four and five that have captured my attention. 

In chapter three God introduces Himself to Moses by means of a bush that is on fire but does not burn up (weird). God then promised Moses that the Hebrew people would be liberated after four hundred years of slavery and suffering in Egypt. The whole chapter is (for the most part) pretty upbeat and positive. God does indicate there will a few hiccups along the way (Exodus 3:19-21). Even with those caveats God’s promises to Moses are awesome. The Hebrews will leave Egypt; God will give them a land flowing with “milk and honey “and they will collect great riches as they leave Egypt (Exodus 3:21-22).   

It’s all good.

In chapter four God begins to reveal His plan to Moses.  It all starts with requesting Pharaoh allow the Hebrews to go into the desert to worship God.  God does mention something (almost in passing) about hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Turns out this was a critical bit of information.  

In chapter five everything appears to go sideways. Moses goes to Pharoh. Who was not at all inclined to dismiss his workforce even for a church service (Exodus 5:1-5). Then Pharaoh fights dirty. He accused the Hebrews of laziness and having too much time on their hands. He increased his demands, now insisting the slaves provide their own straw for the bricks, adding more labor to an already labor-intensive process. The Hebrews did not handle this initial hardship well. They grumbled and complained and even accused poor Moses of deliberately trying to ruin their lives (Exodus 5:20-21).

It’s kind of an unpleasant read.

Mostly because these two chapters are more than just biblical history, they are also an example of what spiritual warfare often “looks like” in real life (2nd Corinthians 10:3-5, Ephesians 6:10-18, James 4:7, 1st Peter 5:8, Daniel 10:12-14). There are at least two principals regarding spiritual warfare we can glean from these chapters:

When the spiritual stakes are high obedience doesn’t always mean immediate victory-  

In this narrative Moses obeys God to the letter: he goes to the people, and in the beginning, the people believed Moses and responded in a faithful fashion (Exodus 4:31). Then everything went south. Pharah was disrespectful, spiteful and just plain mean. The people’s faith fell apart in short order. Once their faith began to unravel, they turned on Moses and accused Him of intentionally causing them harm. Moses responded to this development the same way many people tend to respond to difficulty following an act of spiritual obedience. He doubted God and even accused Him of wrongdoing (Exodus 5:22-23). Moses forgot (just like we tend to) that we are playing a spiritual long game. The rewards for obedience in this life are seldom immediate and in some cases obedience to God results an even tougher time in the short run. When evil rages and the going gets tough we must cling to the promises of God and choose to live by faith rather than sight (Habakuk 2:3, Psalm 37:5-6, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Romans 8:28-39, Hebrews 11). 

When the spiritual stakes are high things get ugly fast- 

The people involved in this story (even Moses) did not really understand what was at stake in their situation. God wasn’t just keeping a promise He made to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15:13-14). God was doing more than showing compassion to a group of people who were being oppressed. He was doing more than building a new nation. God had a bigger picture in mind than any of that. God was literally laying the foundation for the redemption of the human race (Genesis 3:15, Romans 8:2, Revelation 1:5). God had promised the Messiah would come through the nation of Israel (Genesis 18:17-19, Genesis 22:17-18, Genesis 49:10). No nation of Israel means no Jesus. No Jesus means no redemption. Therefore, the spiritual stakes could not have been ANY higher.  When the spiritual stakes are high the enemy of our souls (Satan) fights hard and dirty.  It was true then and it’s still true today. This means that if you are “going through it” right now there is probably more at stake from a spiritual perspective than you are capable of understanding. When Satan fights hard and dirty it simply means God has a bigger plan for everyone involved. 

 This matters because I believe that the number one reason people give up on God and the Christian life is disillusionment. We obey God, pray like crazy and trust God for big things and everything falls apart. Life gets tougher and our trials become more intense. Then the enemy swoops in and tells us God doesn’t love us (Zephaniah 3:17, John 3:16, Romans 8:37-39). Satan whispers in our ear that God is not on our side and the Christian life is just a pointless waste of time. All lies (John 8:44). Truth-be-told, the harder things get from a spiritual perspective the more likely we are to be in the will of God. Spiritual difficulty may also indicate we are closer to Jesus’ return and our redemption than any of us can imagine (Luke 21:1-28). 

How do Christians “Stand-up and Fight for What’s Right”?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment


Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord– Acts 3:19 NIV

America is in decline. 

Once trusted institutions are now looked at with scorn, cynicism and even fear. Many politicians have become corrupt, narcissistic and self-serving.  The economy is in crisis. Inflation is raging. Crime and violence are becoming disturbingly routine events.   Personal freedom is often a cover for evil and selfishness. Government has responded by restricting and regulating personal freedom at every turn.  The military is weakened. A once robust educational system is collapsing. Families are broken. Children are confused about who and what they are.  Drug use is endemic. Men and women are literally fighting for the right to kill their own children.  Truth tellers are despised. These ugly, irrefutable, painful realities clearly point to a state of growing decline. 

Sigh. 

What the heck? How on earth did the freest, richest and overall greatest nation (in my humble opinion) on earth transform into such a raging dumpster-fire so quickly? 

 As tempting as it is we cannot in good conscience lay the blame for the chaos entirely at the feet of our increasingly inept and morally bankrupt political leaders. In a democracy decline is never entirely the fault of the people in charge, voters get what they accept and vote for. Additionally, from a biblical standpoint bad leaders are always an indicator of judgment and are therefore just a symptom of a greater problem.   

In this case sin is the greater problem. 

Sin is always the ultimate cause of moral and spiritual decline (Romans 1:18-32). If an individual, family or nation is deteriorating or declining you can bet sin is at the root of the issue.  Anytime anyone turns away from God and starts to do their own thing they separate themselves from God and the moral code faith in God brings with it.  Eventually, the whole memory of that moral code fades and the person, family or culture is left with the ethical equivalent of a raging dumpster fire. What we’re looking at in the world today is what you get when people turn away from God, reject His moral code and choose to do their own thing. 

Unfortunately. 

Our situation will not be improving anytime soon. The decline America is experiencing will continue until we have a massive revival that fundamentally changes our trajectory or the eventual end of America as we know it. Obviously, we are all rooting for a revival. Here is what we need to do to get it:

Stand up the right way- 

 Christians are frequently told everything will improve when they “stand up” and “fight” for what’s right.  The problem is that no one can really explain what that means or how to do it in a way that brings God glory and facilitates change in the culture. Do we lead an insurrection? Do we focus on the political realm? What exactly does standing up for our faith look like in the modern world? I believe this is where we can take a page from the early churches’ handbook. The early church didn’t take a political or even a moral stand against the Roman government. They didn’t rally or rage against anyone or anything— no matter how wicked or evil that somebody or something was. As a powerless minority rallying and raging would have done little good, it might have even gotten them killed. Instead they simply refused to conform to the culture around them (Romans 2:12). They lived such good, right and moral lives within their culture that they slowly won the culture over to their way of thinking, believing and behaving (1st Peter 2:12). We must seek to do the same. 

Have a realistic perspective on the limits and potential of politics-

Politics are important in a democracy and we have to remember that living in a democracy is a gift from God. Nevertheless, it is critical Christians understand all political leaders (including conservatives) are flawed and cannot be depended on to bring about ethical change.  Every Christian living in a democracy or a constitutional republic is biblically obligated to do their part for the country they live in. That includes praying fervently for political leaders, choosing to vote only for the best and most principled candidate available. Doing our part means being a good citizen who follows all laws that do not contradict God or His laws. We must do our best to improve the political realm but politics should never take the place of God in our lives. Nor can we depend on human leaders to bring righteousness, justice or peace to our land. Only God can bring healing to our world. 

 Take spiritual risks– 

This is not the time to sit back and hope good wins out in the end. This cultural moment requires Christians be spiritually proactive. We become proactive by sharing our faith boldly, loving the lost boldly and doing what’s right in God’s eyes no matter the cost to us personally.  

Our job as followers of Jesus is not to demand our rights or spend our time cursing the darkness (1st Corinthians 4:12) . Our job is to be Jesus to our world. We must seek to represent Him well in our homes, churches and communities.