“Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Basic training is the first thing you enter into when you join the military. It is designed to break you as an individual and build you back up into a fighting unit. It is a proving ground for new military recruits. If you never joined the military then I am sure you have been through your own proving ground. A hard job, a difficult time in your marriage or maybe just a hard year. Either way, the proving ground is meant to push you beyond what you thought you could endure.
After the burning bush, Moses is convinced that the Lord is with him. We find Moses in Egypt with Aaron in a meeting with all the leaders of Israel. Moses tells them all the Lord told him and verse 31 of chapter 4 says “they bowed low and worshiped.” It would appear as if Moses has been accepted by his people after being gone for so long, this time with a word from the Lord. I can only guess that after 400 years of enslavement and no major word from the Lord, these people might have been a little skeptical or eager to hear anything from the Lord. With this new found boldness, Moses goes to speak with Pharaoh and to asks to let the people go. We find Pharaoh, in verse two of chapter 5, saying, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?”
Pharaoh refused to let Israel go and makes things even worse for the Israelites by making them search for straw to make bricks instead of it being given to them. He also keeps the quota of bricks they must make. This causes such a problem and all eyes go to Moses who perpetuated this mess. With a target on his back and the people of Israel once again at the point of distain, Moses cries out to the Lord in verses 22 and 23 above.
I can only imagine what Moses had felt. Flashbacks of his youth are playing out right before his eyes except this time, the whole nation of Israel is being punished, not just him. Moses had just been hit the face. His plans the Lord told him are being questioned and the stakes were raised. Now all of his people were feeling the pressure and Moses even second guesses the Lord and his mission. Moses just entered into the proving ground.
Pharaoh response to Moses initially tells it all. When he said, “Who is the Lord…” it is clear that no one knew of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Egypt, especially not the Egyptians. The Israelites had forgotten about God so much so that no one knew of Him at all.
Your situation might be same. All you can remember is pain and suffering. Your emotional resolve is now a vacuum, sucking up any hope of deliverance. You get some word from the Lord and for the moment, you are refreshed, only to wake up the next morning and everything is now worse off. Yep you guessed it, you are in the place where only the Lord can deliver you. Your own strength has weakened and all you can do is pray the same prayer as Moses, “Where are you Lord?” As an endurance athlete, I can say the more familiar you are with the hurt locker the better shape you will be in. Trusting in the Lord can feel like the proving ground where you have been beaten down and the only thing left to do is trust in the Lord and keep moving forward. Just like how the Israelites eventually leave Egypt, your breakthrough is coming but first you must get used to pain and suffering in the proving ground of life.
Let the proving ground do its job to turn you into a soldier for the Lord who puts all his trust in Jesus and looks to Him for strength. The soldier who walks by faith and not by sight, who stands in the gap and prays earnest prayers, who stands on the promises of God, and who rises above the petty things this world can throw you. The first time I climbed Courtyard drive on my bike I nearly passed out. But now in better shape, it is only a small part of the ride and another one of the hills I climb. The more you trust in the Lord, the stronger your faith becomes and before you know it you will see the Lord working in everything. Don’t despise the proving grounds, they turn us into warriors.
Let It Go 
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