Exodus 4:21 “The LORD said to Moses, ‘When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.”

God proved to the Egyptians that He was greater than all their gods. He warned them about coming judgment. He demonstrated that “heart hardening” is a principle of life. He gave Pharaoh many opportunities to know the true God. He properly prepared the Israelites for their exodus from Egypt. God used this memorable event as a lesson for thousands of years of teaching to Israel and to us.

Principle: God has purposes in failure, which will be revealed later – sometimes much later.

The trial-and-error period between Moses and Pharaoh achieved some very important leadership lessons for Moses and preserved some at-work examples for us.

There is a time for everything. Keep on trying. Do your work God’s way and the end result will be a good result. Many undertakings require preparation and percolation before achieving the vision. Be patient. A faith relationship between you and God must be refined before the finished result. Keep the faith. Sometimes God has a deeper or a grander purpose in the waiting process. Trust Him. God may want you to understand that business life is all about Him, not about you. Come to acknowledge that God is great, and you are not.

God will use your staff, your work, your working tools, and your ability. God asks for your availability – surrender to Him. God will decide the best way to accomplish the goals – do it His way.

Read the instruction manual.

Discussion:

1. When did you learn a business lesson by trial-and-error?

2. When did a short-term difficulty, ultimately become a long-term success?

3. What’s keeping you from being available for the Lord’s work/goals?