Summer At Sea: Week 3 Day 2

Exodus 1: 11-14

11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.  

Imagine living where you are allowed to prosper and freely raise your family and then having all of that stripped away and being forced into slavery and severe hardship. Having lived in abundance would make such suffering that much more difficult to endure. No longer allowed to work for you and your family’s benefit, but solely for the benefit of a cruel leader. This is the situation that the Israelites faced as Pharoah began to see them as a means to prosper himself. Now this large number of people were seen as a workforce that could be made to labor for Egypt rather than themselves.  

What Pharoah did was evil, but God used it for good. No matter how hard they worked and oppressed the Israelites, they continued to multiply. The hard labor itself was preparing them for the difficult journey that they would have to endure to get to the Promised Land one day.

God doesn’t waste our suffering. As we cling to Him and continue to walk closely with Him, even our suffering is used for good. We may not see it or know it, but we can count on it. Spend some time talking with the Lord about this; let His love and wisdom open your eyes to understand the good that can come from our sufferings.