So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it. For they are idle; therefore they cry out, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.”
And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. | Exodus 5: 6-8, 22, 23; 6:2-5
Father, the straws continue to pile up.
Or, like Jenga — slowly, slowly, blocks are taken away; the structure stands on its fragile frame.
I stand watching, straightening the remaining blocks, hoping for stability before that last brick goes before the tower tumbles.
Yet, Father. Whose hand is it who takes away the bricks?
And You allow it to be so.
In times when we wait for an answer, a leader, a path…
Make us to remember our first love.
Love that does not disappoint.
Love from which love originates.
A standard for manhood and true masculinity.
Sacrificial leadership in gentle humility.
The promise of ultimate and glorious victory.
And yet, You understand the frailty of man.
Hear our groaning.
Remember Your covenant.
As we remember our first love, Lord, remember us.
Quotation Mark 