People who get tired of persisting in some task don't know how to be servants, so they will never succeed in the walk of faith. Now, if God had only given His command once, the work wouldn't have been done. Never rebel against God's method, because it is the best one to use at all times. Why go against the grain of faith and fail to obey the absolute God when He can turn His back on you? The Lord is merciful!

           The message Moses received to give to Pharaoh, when the latter was bathing by the river in the morning, was full of revelations. God had sent the One Drawn from the Waters to give the king a message whose origin he knew, but he didn't want to answer it for a few reasons. One of them was that he didn't want to lose his slaves or leave them free to worship God, which was their heart's desire. For Pharaoh, that meant the loss of such a valuable people.

           The Israelites were precious because they were heirs to all the Lord's blessings and, with that, they knew how to work well. If they were to let them go, the Egyptians would be left without the cheap labor that helped them maintain their society. So, knowing that he wouldn't be able to buy other people to replace the heirs to the promise, the king would never yield. As Moses went before God and interceded for his brothers, as the curses progressed, one day the yes would come!

           This is one of the principles taught by Jesus, when He spoke of the prayer of the widow's importunity and explained why the unjust judge decided to grant her request: And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ (Luke 18.4,5).

           Some factors prevent many people from being used by God. One of them is unpreparedness to withstand the struggles that arise in ministry. A person will be able to face them if they have the knowledge of God's will; otherwise, they will do the wrong things and won't even be willing to pray for the Lord to instruct them to the necessary point. Unfortunately, many will weep bitterly when they see that we have received the crown of righteousness and they have not (2 Timothy 4.8).

           Moses had to repeat this phrase: [...] Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness (Exodus 7:16). As a result, the wicked king's heart was broken every time he was visited by the servant of the Most High. His resistance would have to be undermined, especially when the first plague struck: if he didn't listen to Moses, the waters would turn to blood. Pharaoh's heart was filled with pain, for the gods were of no help to him. The Egyptians would suffer for not listening to the Lord!

           God knew that Pharaoh's almost unbreakable structure would not withstand so many trials. The people spoke of the king's hardness of heart, which would bring more problems for everyone. However, at the Lord's insistence, he would change his answer and say yes to Moses!

           In Christ, with love,

           R. R. Soares