The Exodus Way Part 4: Faith Under Pressure

The Exodus Way Part 4: Faith Under Pressure

In this episode we look at a hard but deeply real theme: faith when life gets worse, not better.

We begin with the story of a man called Peter, whose life seemed to unravel layer by layer. Just as he found faith and hope, and even stood ready to be baptised, he was arrested and sent to prison. What looked like everything falling apart was, in his words, the place "God finished setting me free."

That story leads us into Exodus. When God first spoke freedom over Israel, their lives didn't immediately improve. Pharaoh tightened the pressure. Work increased. Hope rose, but so did resistance.

We see a pattern that runs through Scripture and, often, through our own lives: right when freedom draws near, resistance intensifies. But hard times do not automatically mean abandonment. Pressure might not mean God has withdrawn. Sometimes it means the battle has shifted.

When the people cried out, "If God is bringing freedom, why is this getting worse?" God didn't give an explanation. He gave Himself.

"I AM."
 "I HAVE."
 "I WILL."

Faith, we saw, is not built on what is loudest (pain, pressure, fear) but on what is truest: who God is, what He has already done, and what He has promised to do.

We also connected this to Psalm 22 and to Jesus. Jesus cried out in real anguish, yet the psalm goes on to declare who God is (I AM) and what he has done (I HAVE) which enables him to commit himself to God (I WILL). His faith did not remove the cross, but it carried Him through it, trusting in resurrection beyond what He could see. Because He entered suffering, we are never alone in ours.

Communion then made sense in a fresh way. We live between redemption accomplished and fulfilment still coming. Between "It is finished" and "Your kingdom come."

So this week, the question is not simply, "Are things getting easier?" but, "Where am I learning to trust the I AM in the middle of what is?"

As you reflect

• Have you ever experienced a season where following God seemed to make life harder before it got better? What did that do to your faith?
• When pressure hits, what tends to take the lead in your response? Emotion (e.g. anxiety, frustration, sadness); Willpower (e.g. "I've got to fix this"); Overthinking (e.g. trying to solve every angle in your head); Something else?
• How do you see your response play out, and how does it affect what you do next?
• Which part of God's response speaks most to you right now: I AM, I HAVE, or I WILL? Why?

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in!

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at https://www.youtube.com/@leobc2402/streams.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.