S9.1 | Finding Hope When Prayers Seem Unanswered
Welcome to Season 9 of Affirming Truths with your host and friend, Carla Arges!
In this episode, Carla dives deep into the life of Moses, drawing parallels between his journey and our own struggles with faith and obedience.
Inspired by her recent Bible study, she shares a powerful message about perseverance in the face of rejection and discouragement. Through Moses’s unwavering commitment to God’s call, despite repeated setbacks from Pharaoh, Carla challenges us to keep showing up, even when we don’t see immediate results.
Tune in for an encouraging exploration of faith, trust, and the courage to face our own Pharaohs. Don’t miss this great start to the new season!
Did you know that Carla is a Christian Mental Health coach?
See if working with her is what you need in your current season.
Book a discovery call today!
Key Takeaways
Embracing God's Timing:
Carla highlights the importance of understanding that God's timing is not always our timing. Just as Moses faced many "no's" from Pharaoh, we must recognize that delays are not denials but opportunities to deepen our faith.
Persistence in the Face of Adversity:
Like Moses, we may encounter numerous obstacles and rejection in our paths. Carla emphasizes the need to keep showing up and trusting God, even when the situation seems to worsen.
The Power of Obedience:
Carla draws attention to Moses' commitment to obedience. The episode encourages listeners to continue walking in obedience to God's call, leaving the results up to Him.
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Renewing Hope Course —-> https://www.carlaarges.com/renewing-hope
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
Resources:
5 Steps to Building Resiliency
Affirming Truths Facebook Community
5 Tips for Overcoming a Negative Body Image
Who You Say I Am Biblical Affirmation Cards
TRANSCRIPT
Carla Arges [00:00:08]:
Hey friends, welcome to affirming truths. I'm your friend and host, Carla Arges. This show is a safe place to share our struggles, grow in faith, and root our identity in Christ.
Carla Arges [00:00:20]:
My hope is that you will leave.
Carla Arges [00:00:22]:
Each episode feeling encouraged in your journey. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
Carla Arges [00:00:27]:
And it would mean the world to.
Carla Arges [00:00:28]:
Me if you would leave a review. I am so glad you're here. Let's get started. Hello friends.
Carla Arges [00:00:37]:
Welcome to season nine of affirming troops.
Carla Arges [00:00:40]:
I am your host.
Carla Arges [00:00:42]:
I am your friend. I am your cheerleader. I'm your challenger. I am Carla Arjes. And I'm so glad you're here. If you've been following along with the podcast. You know, when I left season eight, I was kind of worn out. I was kind of disillusioned.
Carla Arges [00:01:00]:
I was kind of like, eh, God, what am I doing here with this? And I have to say, the little break I took was exactly what I needed. And during that time, I started a Bible study on the life of Moses. And God has been speaking to me so much through this study that he was applying to me in my life, including with the podcast. And God is so good that way. Amen. Like, he meets us where we're at when we earnestly seek him. He doesn't fail us. And so today, we're going to get right into it.
Carla Arges [00:01:44]:
I want to share with you one of the aha moments, one of the things that God revealed to me in my study in the life of Moses, right? So if you're not familiar with the story of Moses, I'm sure most of you are, but essentially, Moses was supposed to be killed as a baby when the egyptian ruler of the time ordered the genocide, because he was afraid that the Israelites were growing too strong, and he was afraid of what that might mean. So he ordered for all the baby boys to be killed. And through, you know, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Moses mother saves him, puts him in a basket. The pharaoh's daughter, I think it is, finds Moses. You know, she has Moses mother, not realizing it's his mother, feed him and all of that until he's weaned. And then he goes and gets raised in the egyptian palace. History books outside of the Bible tell us he was actually a great warrior in the egyptian army. And yet he has this call in his heart for this people.
Carla Arges [00:03:00]:
And one day he sees an egyptian soldier mistreating an israelite slave, and he kills this egyptian. He then has to flee for his life. He ends up in across the desert in the land of Midian. He becomes a shepherd, and God calls him, after 40 years of shepherding, to go back to Egypt and free his people. And Moses is hesitant at first, right? Like, can you imagine God? Actually, I can imagine God is giving you a task, and you're like, no, I can't do it. We do that, don't we? Well, Moses was no different. And God was good and said, okay, fine, Aaron can come with you and be your mouthpiece. But Moses was really the conduit, the mediator between God and the people.
Carla Arges [00:03:54]:
And so Moses goes to Egypt in the quest to get the Israelites free from slavery. And this is sort of where we pick up the story today. Because I think oftentimes when God calls us to something, we get really confident at first, right? Maybe there's a little bit of initial hesitation, but then we're like, okay, God, open this door. God is calling me here. And we expect blessing and abundance and ease right out of the gate. And when we don't see the fruit right away where God has called us, we get discouraged and we want to give up. And then we second guess what our call is. And then we get frustrated and we get dejected.
Carla Arges [00:04:51]:
And to be honest, that's kind of where I was at. At the end of season eight. I wasn't seeing fruit, and I was discouraged. And here Moses has this call. He goes to pharaoh. He displays the power of God by laying down his rod and it turning into a snake and then having his snakes eat up the magician snakes. And Pharaoh says, no. Pharaoh says, no.
Carla Arges [00:05:23]:
Not only does he say no, he makes it harder on the israelite slaves by saying, you're not going to get straw anymore. Make your bricks, and you cannot reduce your quota. So Moses goes in to be the voice of God, the mediator to the ISraelites, bringing this hope. God has heard you. God is going to free you. He goes to pharaoh, and the answer is no. And it's actually made things harder for the Israelites. So now he has to go face the Israelites, and the Israelites are murmuring against him.
Carla Arges [00:06:03]:
There were times during this where Moses thought the Israelites would kill him because his presence was making things harder. Where was this freedom he promised? In fact, Moses had to go back again and again and again. Moses had to face rejection from the pharaoh and seemingly humiliation to the Israelites. Even in the midst of seeing the plagues that God was raining down on the Egyptians, the Israelites murmured, Moses, in this rock and a hard place. But we don't see Moses saying, God, why did you call me here? If you're not letting the people go, you don't see Moses dejected and wanting to go back to Midian at this point. You see Moses faithfully going each time to pharaoh, each time facing rejection, each time committed to walking in obedience, knowing that it was not up to him to bring the result, but just to be the mouthpiece. The result was God's. The timing was God's.
Carla Arges [00:07:25]:
And I really want us to grab hold of this right in the midst of, no. In the midst of rejection, in the midst of his reputation being smeared, in the midst of disappointment, Moses kept showing up. He went back again and again in obedience. That is a message for us today. I know so many of us struggle, right? If you're listening, you probably struggle with your mental health, you probably struggle with trauma, and maybe you're going back again and again for healing. Maybe you're trying to implement the right things at the right time, and you're not seeing movement. God is saying, will you trust me? Will you keep showing up? Will you keep facing your pharaoh? Will you keep facing your pharaoh? That is what God asked me through this study. Will you keep facing your pharaoh even when you see no fruits? Will you keep going back and doing what I asked you to do, even if you see no results? Will you keep walking in obedience, even if it seems like nothing is happening? In fact, will you keep showing up and trusting me, even when it seems like it's getting worse? Will you trust God? Will you keep walking in obedience? Moses had a special call and a special relationship with God.
Carla Arges [00:09:17]:
But at the end of the day, Moses is no different than you and I, fully human. He did not have superhuman strength. He did not have the indwelling holy spirit like we do. What he had with a relationship with God, what he had with knowledge of the character of God, and in knowing the character of God, in knowing the power of God, he knew he could trust God, that he could go and keep going and keep going because God was not going to forsake him. We can have that same relationship that's available to us because of what Christ did at the cross. We can know God's character. God reveals himself in his word. If we would just study his word, if we would leave behind the devotions for a while and get into the Bible, regular Bible study, we could get to know God the way Moses knew God.
Carla Arges [00:10:30]:
In fact, we may even be able to get him to know better because Jesus really displayed the character of God and Moses didn't have the New Testament. Moses didn't have any testament. He's the one that wrote the first five books of the Bible. But he had relationship. And because of that relationship, he had trust and he had faith. And I know some of you may be saying like, oh, but he had direct audible communication. I don't have that. Or he had everyday miracles, huge miracles, showing up that he could trust.
Carla Arges [00:11:09]:
And friend, I want to say to you, you do have that the God that spoke still speaks. He speaks through his word. He speaks through his holy spirit indwelling in you. He speaks in the quiet moments that you give him in prayer. He speaks to your spirit. His miracles and his blessings are every day. Look at your life and you will see God's fingerprints all over it. He has never once failed you, and he will not fail you now.
Carla Arges [00:11:46]:
So in the face of your pharaoh, will you be willing to go back time and time again, even if it's hard, even if it's no, even if it feels like it's going to get worse, will you trust? Will you believe? Will you walk in obedience? My affirming truth for you today is, I will walk in faith even if I can't see the end. Even if I can't see the end. You know, in Deuteronomy 31 six, it says, during the time of Moses, Moses wrote this book. He sent the message to the Israelites to say, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them. They were facing a foe. For the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Carla Arges [00:12:40]:
The Lord your God, friend, is going with you where he calls you, he goes with you. What he's using to sanctify you. He covers you. He doesn't leave you. Keep showing up in faith. Keep going to your pharaoh. Don't look for the fruit, but look to the character of Christ. The fruit is up to him.
Carla Arges [00:13:09]:
He's asking for your obedience. The results are his. Will you keep going, friend? I hope so. I'll talk to you next time.
Carla Arges [00:13:24]:
Thanks for joining me today. I hope we're already friends on social media, but if we're not, come find me on Instagram, at Carla Arges, or at affirming truth. Can't wait to see you back here next week. Bye, friends.