Today is Shrove Tuesday, ‘Mardi Gras’ in French (‘fat Tuesday’, when all the fat was used up before the forty days of Lent.) Apparently it’s also Safer Internet Day, though I must confess I don’t know how I can connect these two facts! In many countries, Shrove Tuesday is celebrated by eating pancakes, and Garry will indeed be making pancakes at our house tonight (he’s much better than I am at tossing them and his pancake culinary skills far exceed mine!) I’m a lemon pancake fan (not entirely sure what that says about me, possibly a reflection of my personality…), but we’ll also be serving golden syrup and bananas and orange juice on the pancakes.

The expression ‘Shrove Tuesday’ comes from the old word ‘to shrive’, which means to absolve and is connected to the idea of repentance. Christians traditionally ‘make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God’s help in dealing with’ on this occasion. The period of Lent (which starts tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, and ends at Easter) is traditionally a time for ‘giving up’ something in order to focus on God (alcohol and chocolate are frequently ‘given up’ at this time, though in line with the Safer Internet Day, maybe we could also look at giving up some of our online passions.) Self-discipline and self-sacrifice are, of course, not to be restricted to one forty-day period (excluding Sundays!), but sometimes having an external focus can be helpful to people.

Eating pancakes to use up the fat and eggs we have before the period of Lent may well not apply to everyone today. But it’s always good to pause and to ask God to examine our hearts as well as to pray for those who are less fortunate than we are and for whom, perhaps, a pancake would be a feast of a meal on any occasion.

What are we to do when (not if!)  the situation gets worse rather than better, then?!

Moses sought God and (just as the psalmist did in Ps 129) was honest about his frustrations. Moses is an example to us in being honest. He never pretends to God. He is also an example in that He brought his frustrations and worries directly to God in prayer. This needs to be our first step.

God answers him in Ex 6:1-8. He gives an unequivocal promise: ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.‘ (Ex 6:1) That promise may well have seemed totally impossible to Moses and the people, but if God gives us an ‘I will…’ promise, we can be sure He will fulfil it. (Heb 10:23, 2 Cor 1:20)

God also reminds Moses of who He is: ‘I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them.‘ (Ex 6:2-3) When things are dark, we have to remind ourselves of God’s identity. Who God is will always be enough for us, no matter what the situation we face.

He reminds Moses of His faithfulness (Ex 6:4) and His compassion (Ex 6:5). God does not break His promises or His covenant; even though we may feel we have to wait a long time for God, He does not forget us!

He gives Moses something fresh to take back to the people: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’‘ (Ex 6:6-8) He promises deliverance and freedom, but even more amazing than this, He promises a personal, intimate relationship with them: ‘I will be your God.’

The key thing we have to do in the darkness is to keep holding on to the promises of God. This requires faith, the ability to trust in what we cannot see. By faith we say ‘You are the Lord. That is Your name.’ (see Is 42:8, ‘You Are The Lord’, Jeremy Camp) It didn’t get easier for Moses and the people of Israel for some considerable time. But God did indeed bring them out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and lead them to the land He swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. God will do all that He has promised.

In football, the aim of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team. This is not as easy as it sounds, but at least there is a fixed point in that aim. The ball has to cross the line and go in the net in order for a goal to be scored.

For those of us with limited ball skills, scoring a goal even when there’s an empty net and no one trying to stop us is a hard enough task! For others, the enjoyment of the game is partly to do with proving your skill against opponents who are equally skilful.

But it’s a fair game because the rules are fixed. It would be vastly different and much more difficult if the goalposts, the net, were to be moved actually during the game and you never knew quite where you were supposed to be aiming to score that elusive goal.

One of the tactics used in oppression is to keep moving the goalposts. When Moses went to face Pharaoh and ask that the Israelites be allowed to go and worship God for three days, Pharaoh’s reaction was hostility. (Ex 5:1-18) Far from listening to him and believing, he decided that the ‘goalposts’ for the Israelites should be moved, so that the same quota of bricks made by the slaves had to be made without giving them the straw to make them, thus giving them additional work. That same tactic is used by many employers today. No additional pay is given, but additional work is piled on (usually because an employee has left work and not been replaced in order to ‘save money’). Or the ‘goalposts’ are changed so that the work itself is different (teachers facing new specifications or new measures for evaluating ‘standards’ on the governments’ whims face this on a regular basis.) The goalposts of a contract are changed subtly, unobtrusively, piling on the work until the worker is completely broken down, stressed, miserable and unhappy.

Not surprisingly, the Israelites were not happy about this worsening situation. Moses had promised deliverance and rescue, and they were now facing worse conditions than before. They had appealed to Pharaoh’s overseers in the proper manner (Ex 5:15-16), only to be told they were lazy! (Ex 5:17-18) (Another common work tactic is to blame the worker, no matter how unreasonable the demands made.) Now, their anger and frustration spills over to Moses: ‘May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.’ (Ex 5:21)

It is a biblical pattern that God’s call and vision do not lead to instant improvement, gratification or fulfilment, that there is often a ‘testing time’ between the promise of God and its fulfilment. Nicky Gumbel, in commenting on Ex 4-6, says ‘then all the battles started and things got worse instead of better’! It’s at that point we are most easily tempted to give up. No one really wants to be obnoxious to those who have authority over us and the power to make life even more difficult than it already is! Moses went back to God in frustration: ‘Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.’ (Ex 5:22-23)

Perhaps this is why there is so much emphasis in the Bible on the need for us to persevere. If we read this story in the present tense, not knowing the outcome of the rest of the book of Exodus, we would probably give up at this point. Moses has tried. And failed. The Israelites are still slaves. They’re actually in a worse position than before, because they’re having to make the same number of bricks but have to go looking for their own straw as well. End of story.

Except it isn’t. To borrow an operatic analogy, ‘it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.’

Even when we feel things are getting worse rather than better, God urges us to keep hoping, keep trusting, keep believing. His plan of salvation and deliverance wasn’t about to be thwarted by any attempt to move the goalposts which Pharaoh dreamt up. His plans for our lives and our church will not be thwarted, no matter what it looks like at this moment, on this page of our story. God continues to work, often behind the scenes, invisibly, until that moment when His salvation and deliverance break out.

If you’re at the stage where it’s getting worse rather than better and you can’t see a way out, don’t give up. If the enemy is pouring lies into your heart that are wrecking you, call to God for deliverance. God will bring the victory. (‘Deliver Me’, Aaron Shust)

Lorraine concluded the family service by talking about prayer as a conversation between friends.

Prayer is important because…

1. it’s communication with God (1 Thess 5:17). Talking is good; God wants us to be communicating continually with Him.
2. it’s a way to give thanks (2 Cor 4:15-16)
3. it’s a way to intercede for others (2 Cor 1:11)
4. it’s a way of giving praise for who God is (not just for what He has done) (Ps 86:12)
5. it’s a way to confess our sins and thus leads to forgiveness (Prov 28:13)
6. it’s a way to ask for help (Matt 21:22). Jesus reminded us to ask and it will be given to us.
7. it’s a way to receive salvation (Rom 10)

God calls us to pray; our part is to find a time and stick to it and rejoice in all God is and all He has done. (Ps 150)

We also had a birthday to celebrate in advance:

Tonight’s family service took the theme ‘God’s Not Deaf!‘ and featured a game which needed careful attention to instructions, since the participants were blindfolded.

Stephen spoke about the importance of prayer, emphasising:

1. our position (Is 59:12) Our sins are the only thing that separate us from God and stop Him listening to us, but even then, His ears are attentive to our cries for help and Jesus has prayed for our protection from the evil one. (Jn 17:15)
2. our reaction (Phil 4:6-7). Our response to anxiety and worry has to be bring our petitions before God.
3. our power (Js 5:16) Prayer is powerful; James reminds us that the prayers of those made right by God are powerful and effective.
4. our path (1 Pet 3:12) God is attentive to our cries and guides us in paths of righteousness.
5. our voice (Matt 6:7-15) Jesus reminds us that we do not need to keep babbling in prayer; we can pray according to the model He has given us. Our repentance and humility will receive His response (2 Chron 7:14).

Often, we feel God is too busy to hear us when we pray or that we need a special ‘formula’ to know how to pray. We tend to think more words or louder prayers will do the trick (rather like our tendency to shout at foreigners to make ourselves understood, even though the language barrier is the problem there, not the volume!) We have no need to shout at God, though, for He has excellent hearing and can even hear our thoughts! (see Ps 139). God hears us all the time, hearing our quietest whispers and our loudest screams, hearing our fears, anger, sadness, desperation, happiness and joy.

Sometimes God’s answers to our prayers are not recognised, however, like the man in the joke who drowned because he refused the help of the boat and helicopter sent to rescue him. We need to learn to recognise and accept God’s answers to prayer.

William Barclay said, “Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”

Ps 129 reminds us that though oppression and suffering come into our lives, God is able to make all grace abound to us at all times: ‘And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.’ (2 Cor 9:8) The psalmist’s cry is that despite oppression, ‘the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.’ (Ps 129:4) History abounds with testimonies of how God delivers from oppression and sustains with joy even during oppression.

Richard Wurmbrand was a Romanian pastor who lived under Communist persecution in the 1940s and 1950s and who suffered greatly for his faith, being placed in solitary confinement in prison for three years and being imprisoned in total for over 10 years. When he was in solitary confinement, he was in a cell twelve feet underground, with no lights or windows. There was no sound because even the guards wore felt on the soles of their shoes. He later recounted that he maintained his sanity by sleeping during the day, staying awake at night, and exercising his mind and soul by composing and then delivering a sermon each night. Due to his extraordinary memory, he was able to recall more than 350 of those, a selection of which he included in his book “With God in Solitary Confinement,” which was first published in 1969. During part of this time, he communicated with other inmates by tapping out Morse code on the wall. In this way he continued to “be sunlight” to fellow inmates rather than dwell on the lack of physical light.[1] He wrote about how the joy of the Lord sustained Him during this time, to the extent that at times he would dance with delight in the cell. This is the kind of testimony that so many of God’s people have recounted, how the Lord frees them from the cords of the wicked, how the oppressors ultimately do not have the final word. (Think also of French atheist philosopher Voltaire who declared that the Bible would be obsolete within a hundred years and whose house was used by the French Bible Society after his death to sell Bibles!)

Far from being something sour-faced or stoical, perseverance which is fuelled by the hope we have in Christ enables God’s people to say ‘they have not gained the victory over me.’ (Ps 129:2) The first martyr, Stephen, died with joy, looking up and seeing Jesus in heaven, waiting to receive him. (Acts 7:56) Perseverance to the end is not grim endurance, but this ability indeed not only to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory, for God is a God who arms us with strength (Ps 18:23) and give songs in the night. (Job 35:10)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wurmbrand