When Moses and Aaron arrived in Egypt and ordered Pharaoh to let their people go, he refused and instead made their work more difficult to drive a wedge between Moses and the people he was sent to deliver:
Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’” So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before? (Exodus 5:10-15).
Studies show that at least 70% of the working public in the U.S. has a job they either don't like or on which they do not get a chance to express what they do best. The percent is even higher in every other country of the world. Why is that? It is because many believe that is the only option they have. In a sense, they work for Pharaoh and if Pharaoh thinks they are not producing the way they should, he (or she) will make their conditions less pleasant—not more. Perhaps you are in that situation, working a job you don't like. Even if you work for Pharaoh and he treats you well, you are still in bondage to a system that at the end of the day is using you in return for often meager returns.
The Israelites had no choice but to submit to Pharaoh's harshness, but you probably have some options. They may not seem like good ones, but you have them. You can look for a new job or start your own business, just to name two. Whichever you choose, it is important to keep one thing in mind: God can use a company to provide for you but He doesn't need one. He can take care of you by His own means, which is the testimony of many who had to make a job transition only to find the Lord provided in miraculous ways to take care of them.
Do you feel stuck in a job you hate? Are you working for a Pharaoh who changes your wages and working conditions as he or she sees fit without your best interests at heart? Is your thinking preventing you from even identifying your purpose, for the thought of how your purpose will provide for you keeps you from even considering what it may be? God set His people free in Exodus 5 and He will do the same for you, but only if you trust that He is able to do so. If not, then you will keep going back to a situation that is dull at best and abusive at worst, convinced it is the best you can do when God has something much better in mind—if you trust Him to take care of your needs as you make the transition.
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