2/15 Exodus 5:21

²¹ and they said to them, "The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Moses went to Pharaoh and gave him God's demand to let Israel go and serve (worship) Him in the wilderness. Pharaoh decided they made a request like that because they had too much time on their hands and were lazy. So he made them gather their own straw to make bricks. It is interesting to note that the ancient bricks of Egypt did contain straw except for a period which correlates to this story in which some were made without straw. The straw made the bricks much stronger.

When the people couldn't keep up with their daily quota, they blamed Moses. The day before, they were praising God for sending Moses. Now they are cursing him. Such is the life of the obedient servant of God. People rarely understand what you do or your motives for doing it. When the ungodly see you act, they think of their own motivations for doing things and assign them to you. In the New Testament, The Apostle Paul wrote, "The more I love, the less I am loved."

Just because you don't get the results you expected when you obey God, don't think you have failed. Obedience is success. The results are up to God. He is simply looking for those who will be faithful to let Him lead. It is hard not to be discouraged when those you are trying to help turn against you, but someday, here or in heaven, they will understand. Just be that successful servant who faithfully obeys.

Consider: Once again God is asking Moses to act in faith and persevere. Remember, God is already seeing the future and knows the end result. There is no safer, saner thing to do than to obey God, regardless of how things appear.