Regret

 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?

Exodus 5:22 ESV


One might have thought that once God finally persuaded Moses to help set His people free, that it would be relatively plain sailing. Of course, life rarely is so easy, and this time was no exception. Moses and Aaron went to Pharoah to ask him to set God's people free, and of course he refused to let go of his slave labour.


In fact, Pharoah decided the Israelites had it too easy, so he increased the burdens upon them. Of course, God's people scapegoated Moses and his spokesman brother Aaron. Moses deflected the blame to God.


It must have felt like Moses had taken on some thankless task: this smelly shepherd telling the perfumed Pharoah to let his people go. Of course Pharoah refused, why would we expect otherwise. God was going to have to weigh in with some major miracles to tip the scales in Israel's favour.


In the midst of a yet thankless task, it's tempting to simply throw in the towel, and Moses clearly wanted to. But to his credit, he didn't. He had committed to helping God set His people free, so he intended to stick with his mission, difficult as it seemed at the time.


'Yahweh, we confess that witnessing for You and calling people to repentance and faith in You often seems like a thankless task. Please help us to persevere, until You call us home. In Christ's name, amen' 

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