Have you ever had the experience where you were in a situation that you were hoping would improve, and it only got worse? Have you been in a place that you thought might be the bottom, the worst, and then somehow you got lower and things got worser than worst?
It’s not an enviable position, to be going from the worse to worst, or from what you thought was the worst to find out there is even more negativity to come. It’s not enjoyable. It’s not desirable. It’s no fun. And yet, we sometimes find ourselves in that very spot…things are bad and instead of improvement we just see them continue to spiral lower and lower.
I know that I have had this experience. I’ve been in places where I thought, “Surely, things cannot be any worse!” Then, I find out I was wrong. It actually could.
These situations remind me of the Israelites leaving Egypt.
The Israelites had it bad in Egypt. Really bad. They were mistreated. They were overworked. They were enslaved. They were persecuted. At one point, they were even commanded to kill all of their newborn boys (Exodus 1:22). To say things were not going well would be the understatement of the century. The Israelites had it rough.
Fortunately, God looked on the plight of the people with compassion, and the Lord set about to deliver them. The book of Exodus walks through a bunch of remarkable stories as to how this began to happen (including a burning bush, a staff that turns into a snake and back, plagues, and more…please read it if it has been a while since you have looked at the story). But there they were, in a bad situation, with hope to get out, with God promising to deliver, and…things got worse.
Things got worse?
Worse than slavery? Worse than hard labor? Worse than the threat of losing your newborn sons? Things got worse?
Yes. They did.
The Israelites had made a huge, positive step. They had left Egypt, taking with them a vast amount of possessions, gold and silver and treasures of various varieties, but then they found themselves stuck. Right at the Red Sea with an angry army bearing down on them.
Look at what the Israelites say in Exodus 14:11-12:
They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
“We thought we had it bad in Egypt! At least we were alive! You’ve brought us out here to kill us!”
Instead of things looking up for the Israelites, the Israelites were looking at how much farther down they might sink, and their perceived options were grim…die by the hands of Pharaoh and his army or drown in the Red Sea. Complete annihilation one way or another. Things were looking far worse than they were in Egypt. At least in Egypt, they were alive.
Now, for us, as modern readers of the Scripture, it is easy to say, “But they just had to wait…God is about to use Moses to part the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s army won’t make it through. Come on Israelites! God is going to come through in a miraculous way!” That’s easy for us to know, now. But was it so easy for them, then?
Did they know the sea would part? Did they know that the army would be wiped out?
Of course not! They were in the middle of a situation where bad had gone to worse, and they saw no clear way out.
Friends, we’ve been spiraling around for quite some time now. In some ways, things are bad. There is arguing and fighting. There is confusion and disease. There is unrest and tensions are high, and things are not great. Restrictions have been applied, economies have faltered, people are without jobs, some have been persecuted. Unfortunately, even as some things are improving, things could still get worse. (They might get better…I pray they get better…I’m not saying they are going to get worse…we just have to be prepared for the possibility. Things could get worse.)
Sometimes, things get worse before they get better.
Recently, I’ve been working on a number of projects as part of remodeling our upstairs. One of the projects involved pouring epoxy onto a table top. The table top is in two halves and will function as a place to eat and gather when it is finished (it is also a ping pong table when you flip it over…hopefully, this will provide ample opportunities for family fun…and a few victories for me!). Right now, at this moment, if you were to look at the table top, one side looks significantly worse than the other. One side looks crystal clear, reflective, beautiful. The other? Looks scratched up, duller, not as brilliant.
One would think that the reflective side is finished and the dull side needs attention. One would be wrong.
The dull side is actually further along in the process. Both sides were crystal clear and reflective, but they had blemishes. They needed sanded, and re-sanded, and re-sanded to get them flat and smooth. Then, they will need buffed out and polished. The dull side has been sanded. It’s actually smoother than the other, better looking side. It’s just waiting for the buffing treatment. For that side of the table, things got worse, before they get better (and that is still to come for the other side as well). However, there was a purpose for the steps which seemingly went backwards, there was a purpose for the roughness. The blemishes needed removed. The surface needed smoothed out. In order to achieve the results that we wanted, things had to get worse before they could get better.
It was the same for the Israelites. Things needed to be worse before they got better.
Look at how Moses responded to their statements:
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:13-14)
“I know that things are worse. Don’t give up. I know this looks hopeless. Stand firm. I know this looks like certain death. See what the Lord will do. Be still.”
That’s some tough advice. Don’t give up. Stand firm. Be still.
That’s some really tough advice when faced with certain death on all sides, when things were terrible and they’ve gotten terrible-er. Don’t give up? Stand firm? Be still? Watch God?
God had a purpose for this situation. Sure, sure, he was going to part the Red Sea and all that. But beyond that, God wanted the Israelites to trust in Him. God used this situation to show that no matter the extenuating circumstances, God is able, God is loving, God is trustworthy, God will fight for us. God used some sandpaper, some rough situations, to make the table worse before it got better, but in the meantime, He smoothed out some bumps and some blemishes. He demonstrated His nature, His authority, His ability, His power, His love, His compassion, His trustworthiness. He showed the Israelites that they couldn’t just trust Him when it looked like things were going well, they needed to trust in God when things weren’t going well too.
In the case of the Israelites, things got worse before they got better, but not only that, God used the situation to teach them more about their need to trust in God through all circumstances. As they would soon find out, the worst-case situation would lead to one of the most remarkable occurrences in history…walking through the sea on dry ground.
So, friends, I ask you…how can God use your current situation? How can God use your present circumstance, even if it is more awful than before, to smooth out some rough spots? What might God have in store for you if you would just stand firm, hold your ground, be still and trust in God?
It’s not easy in the moment. It’s not easy when life is spiraling down and you see no bottom. Put your hope in God. Rely on Jesus. Pray for God to intervene, to move, to act. Trust in the Lord…with all of your heart for he is worthy of it. God has split the Red Sea for a people in their worst-case scenario. God can do it again in your life.
It’s not easy in the moment. It’s not easy when life is spiraling down and you see no bottom. Put your hope in God. Rely on Jesus. Pray for God to intervene, to move, to act. Trust in the Lord…with all of your heart for he is worthy of it. God has split the Red Sea for a people in their worst-case scenario. God can do it again in your life.
~ Pastor Chris
