The I AM is at Work

We’re just over halfway into our month of Insist!, and you may have noticed things have started to get worse rather than better.

Well sis, I’m here to tell you: Thank God it’s getting worse. Before you angrily close this page, here’s why things getting worse is an opportunity to thank God. Firstly, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV) implores us to: "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

But, if we look throughout Exodus, we see God Himself making the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt intentionally harder. Moses is called by God to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians. He is to go to Pharaoh and insist until they are free:

“Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10 NKJV)

When I was younger, I was a bit of a teacher’s pet, so naturally teachers often trusted me with extra responsibilities. I loved it! It gave me a sense of authority. On the occasions when the teacher would announce to the class, “Gabriella is in charge”, I’d feel confident (and, if I'm honest, arrogant). I was being appointed by someone in power to carry out a task on their behalf, so I expected things to go smoothly.

Everyone was supposed to listen to me because I had the backing of someone superior.

This is what was taking place for Moses; he was being sent by God, with the whole backing of Heaven. Much like we have been appointed, assigned and called to Insist! during this month. But then God in His infinite wisdom adds a caveat, a plot twist:

“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless [he is forced] by a strong hand.” (Exodus 3:19 AMP)

I can't imagine if I would have had the same confidence if my teachers would have placed me in charge of a task and then told me in the same conversation it was going to be an uphill battle. If they had given me authority over a situation, only to inform me that it was going to be made harder. That would’ve dealt swiftly with the arrogance issue.

But this is why I love this story and why it's so powerful, because God was not done with the plot twists:

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.’” (Exodus 4:21 NKJV)

Hold on a minute. Pardon?

Let me break this down. Moses, is minding his own business when appointed by God to be a deliverer and to insist. God is backing him, and victory is assured. Then he is informed that it will be a hard task because Pharaoh won't want to listen. But again, that's fine because God has assured victory. Now God Himself, is telling Moses that Pharaoh will have his heart hardened further, BY GOD?

Why would God do that, if He had already assured Moses of victory and heard the cries of His people? Surely, it would make more sense to soften Pharaoh’s heart to make Moses’ mission easier. Without knowing the end of the story it sounds like Moses is being set up to fail.

But Moses continued with his assignment and we read this pattern of God adding plot twists again and again:

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart…” (Exodus 7:3 NKJV)

“But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh….” (Exodus 9:12 NKJV)

“But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart…” (Exodus 10:20 NKJV)

"So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.” (Exodus 11:10 NKJV)

Perhaps this is where you are finding yourself at now, where you are insisting as Moses was, but it seems like God Himself is hardening the heart of the Pharaoh in your life. It seems like at every turn there's an unexpected plot twist. Instead of getting easier, the more you're pressing the harder it's becoming.

What would you have done if you were Moses at this point? I know myself. I would have definitely complained. I would have maybe even given up on the assignment. Moses, on the other hand, continued on his assignment despite knowing it was the God who had sent him, called him, assigned him, who was making the task harder.

So, what did Moses know that perhaps we don’t?

He knew the God who had sent him to insist:

“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14 NKJV)

The I AM WHO I AM is Self-Sufficient, Self-Reliant, a respecter of no man who does not rely on anyone.

He simply is.

This is who had sent Moses. The God who didn’t actually need Pharaoh’s cooperation to free the children of Israel. Thus, there must have been a particular point to Him hardening Pharaoh’s heart that is revealed later in Scriptures:

“And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.” (Exodus 14:4 NKJV)

The I AM wanted it to be know amongst all that it was Him who brought about the deliverance. It wasn’t Moses, it wasn’t Aaron, it wasn’t even necessarily the act of insisting or the miracles that were performed in the lead up. These were all tools and avenues He used, but ultimately it was the I AM who did it.

So sis, things may appear to be getting worse because the I AM wants all the glory. There should be no confusion once you get that job, once you get married, once you are delivered, or whatever else, that it was only by the hand of THE GREAT I AM.

This is great news because if the end goal is to glorify His name it means He is invested. It means that although things may be getting worse the I AM is still in control. If you will be like Moses and continue to insist even in the face of the situation getting harder the promise is that "the Egyptians you see today, you will see no more" (Exodus 14:13).

Every time Pharaoh's heart was hardened by God, unbeknown to them, the Israelites were actually one step closer to their deliverance despite it looking, and feeling, like the opposite.

So sis, Thank God it’s getting worse.

You are being divinely set up for lasting victory.

You’re being divinely set up for God to make His name known over your life.

The I AM is at work.

In love,

Gabriella Mwedzi