From Bad to Worse
As Jason and I drove toward our house after the lovely ladies' retreat last week, we were surprised to see freshly painted white lines on our street. As I mentioned in a recent post, our quiet little road had been under construction, and it looked like the workers had finally finished up Stage One, leaving behind a gravelly, dusty mess. Gazing out the car window, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. The road was still rough and gravelly, and the freshly painted lines seemed to mock me as we bumped along. Evidently, Stage Two (the painting of the lines) was also the completion of the project.
"Honestly," I muttered to Jason, "I think the road was better before they started all this construction. What was the point?"
Jason just chuckled and patted my hand. "Sometimes, Dana, things have to get worse before they can get better."
I harrumphed and crossed my arms. But as I sat there stewing, I couldn't help but think about what Jason had said. And that's when it hit me—this whole road construction fiasco was a lot like the story of Moses in Exodus 5.
19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. 20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21 And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. - Exodus 5:19-23
When Moses followed God's orders and asked Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, things didn't exactly go according to plan. In fact, they went from bad to worse. Pharaoh made the Israelites work even harder, and Moses was left wondering why on earth God had led him to this point.
But here's the thing—God had a plan. He knew things had to get worse before they could get better, and he used that time to prepare the Israelites for the incredible journey ahead. Eventually, they were able to leave Egypt and start anew.
Now, I'm not saying that our gravelly road is on par with the Israelites' struggle, but it did get me thinking about the times in my life when things seemed to go from bad to worse. And you know what? Every single time, God has used those moments to teach me something, to prepare me for what's to come, or to draw me closer to Him.
So the next time you face a rough road, remember that God has a plan. He's not just sitting up in heaven twiddling His thumb. He's working everything out for your good (Romans 8:28, KJV). And even when things seem to be getting worse, trust that He's got this. After all, He's the one who doing the construction in your life, and He knows exactly where He's leading you.