https://odb.org/2025/01/16/easy-and-hard
Exodus 14 ESV – 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
After Moses, with God having inflicted the Egyptians with the 10 plaques, brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the Pharoah changed his mind and pursued the Israelites. The road to salvation was easy but then became hard when the Egyptians were in pursuit. The Israelites became afraid and blamed Moses for delivering them out of Egypt, preferring to remain slaves serving the Egyptians, a common trait that they carried on even in the wilderness. In the end, none who left Egypt as an adult (except Joshua and Caleb) entered the Promised Land as every single one of them died in the desert during those 40 years.
Sometimes, we could be like those Israelites who were delivered out of Egypt by Moses. Instead of being grateful and thankful for the salvation given to us by God’s love and grace, we grumble that it’s better for us to have remained in our old self. Perhaps Christian life was easy at the beginning but turned hard when we needed to make a stand for God. Perhaps when we live out our faith, we face discrimination and persecution. Perhaps doing the right thing had pleased God. But, it did not yield financial rewards or recognition from our peers. Or we thought Christian life would be rewarding and filled with good fortune when we have Christ in our lives. Instead, we are experiencing hardship and difficult times. Some of us couldn’t understand why God allowed our young loved ones to die in our arms or did not intervene when some misfortune or illness inflicted us.
Like the Israelites and Egyptians, the LORD allows both easy and hard times. He did all the work to convince the Pharoah (the 10 plagues) to release the Israelites but, in the end, allowed the Pharoah to pursue them. The hard part, however, was met with triumph when He parted the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites safe passage but He closed it back when the Egyptians followed so.
I believe that as much as there are easy and hard times, if we have God in our lives, God has a plan and reason for our hardships. Out of those hardships, heartbreaking moments, tears, and mourning, He is doing a special work in our hearts to bring us to the next level of our relationship with Him. When we experience pain and loss, we may become a vessel for God to minister to those experiencing pain and loss. If the Egyptians are at our backs, there will be a Red Sea moment for us to see and experience the glory of God working through us! Trust Him, the time will come! Hallelujah and Amen!
Ronnie's Thoughts 