In this article, James Bergwall presents content on Exodus 5 that was originally given as a Sunday school lesson. Bergwall points out that the Hebrew slaves were brutalized by their masters at the very time God promised to deliver them. He asks the question, how and why does “God intentionally, by design, make life hard for His faithful followers?” Bergwall argues that it has to do with who God is and who we are. The Father disciplines His children as part of enabling us to grow up. The Teacher stretches His students, putting us through growing pains. The Craftsman makes us by reshaping us and purifying us through fire. The Chief Warrior puts His soldiers through hardship and danger. Bergwall concludes that, if Jesus suffered as He learned, how would we think that we could avoid it?
When God Makes Life Hard: Exodus 5: 1-23
from the Journal of Biblical Counseling 19:2 | 2001