Exodus 5:4-8
“That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: ‘You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'”
The birth of our vision is often accompanied by a mighty—Ooops! We are all fired up when the vision is fresh and new, but almost without warning things explode. Instead of seeing our vision fulfilled, it is like death has destroyed the vision. “What do we do now?”
Moses had the vision of leading his people out of bondage to the land God had promised them. I am sure he had visions of Pharaoh being ready to let the people go. Instead, their workload was increased. Now he was in the middle. He was the enemy of Pharaoh for being God’s messenger of deliverance, and also now not too popular with his own people since he had just increased their toil and hardship.
I can almost hear Moses looking toward heaven and crying out at the top of his voice, “Stop the world, I want to get off!” That was not an option that God had given to him. The purpose of the vision was still there—the timing was not yet fulfilled.
It is important for us to realize that the men and women of the Bible were no plaster saints. They had all of the human emotions that we have today. Their sense of loss and frustration was every bit as devastating as our bitter pills.
Yesterday I also spoke about the vision which God had given to Abraham. It sounded wonderful when it was given, but the death of Abraham’s vision was the realization that both he and Sarah, his wife, were far past the child-producing age. All that was left of his forest of God’s promise was just dead timber. Each passing year only drove another nail into the coffin of his vision of fatherhood.
Joseph had a vision of being a son that was honored by his brothers. The death of his vision was being sold into slavery, falsely accused, thrown into a prison, forgotten by Pharaoh’s butler, who had made a promise to mention his false imprisonment. It was like he experienced death after death.
There is a truth that rings loud and clear in all of these illustrations of death. It is not the end!!! I love a quote that Sir Winston Churchill made after the Germans had given up their plans for the invasion of Great Britain. Sir Winston said something like this: “This is not the end! This is not the beginning of the end! But this is the end of the beginning!”
In the lives of God’s precious people there will be shattered dreams and the death of a vision. This is almost a certainty. Perhaps the only time we will not encounter them is when we have no vision in the first place. That is the real tragedy in the life of a Christian. We have to have a birth of vision in order to encounter death, and without death, there is no resurrection of the vision.
Please do not experience depression after reading today’s E-Votional. We are about to share the pure joy that God gives as He brings supernatural life into that vision once considered dead. God wants to make sure that it is dead from our human standpoint, so we will not take the credit and become proud. It is to His glory that the vision will be resurrected. Just wait until tomorrow!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing.
— Pastor Cecil