Trusting God Through Trials: Pressure Precedes His Power

Devotional

Day 1: God's Plan Unfolds Through Trials

Even when life feels overwhelming and you are buried under immense pressure, remember that this is not a sign of failure. Instead, it is often evidence of God's work in your life, planting you for growth and shaping you into who He intends you to be. The resistance you face might be an indication that you are moving in the right direction, fulfilling His promises. [51:29]

Exodus 1:12 (NIV)
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. So the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

Reflection: In what area of your life have you felt the most pressure recently, and how might that pressure be a sign of God's active work in preparing you for something new?

Day 2: Obedience Invites Resistance, Not Ease

When you step out in obedience to God's calling, it is not always met with smooth sailing. The story of Moses and the Israelites demonstrates that sometimes, doing what is right can lead to increased hardship and opposition. This resistance is not a sign that you are on the wrong path, but rather that you are effectively pursuing God's will. [59:47]

Exodus 5:1-2 (NIV)
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.' Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go."

Reflection: Can you identify a time when your obedience to God's leading resulted in unexpected resistance, and how did you navigate that challenge?

Day 3: Pressure Reveals God's Unmistakable Power

God's strategy often involves allowing pressure to build before He displays His power. Pharaoh's hardened heart and the subsequent plagues were not setbacks, but rather divine tools to make God's deliverance undeniable. When you feel overwhelmed, remember that God is not surprised by your trials; He is orchestrating them to reveal His glory and strength in ways that would otherwise be unseen. [01:08:38]

Exodus 7:3-5 (NIV)
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and, with mighty acts of judgment, I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of their land.

Reflection: Where have you recently witnessed God's power breaking through in a situation that felt impossible, and what did that experience teach you about His timing?

Day 4: God Makes a Way Through the Impossible

When you find yourself facing an insurmountable obstacle, like the Israelites at the Red Sea, remember that God's command is often to move forward before the way is clear. Trusting Him means taking that first step of obedience, even when the path ahead is uncertain. God's power is revealed not when the miracle happens first, but when you step out in faith and He works the miracle within and through you. [01:14:59]

Exodus 14:15 (NIV)
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on."

Reflection: What is one step of faith God is inviting you to take right now, even though the outcome is not yet visible?

Day 5: Trusting God Amidst the Storm

The presence of trials does not signify that God has abandoned you; it may indicate that you are on the verge of a new chapter. Hardship is not defeat, and pressure is not a sign of retreat. God often leads us to what feel like dead ends so that we will cease relying on our own abilities and begin to trust in His power, making a way where there seems to be no way. [01:15:52]

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Reflection: When you feel like you are facing a "Red Sea" moment in your life, what is one specific way you can choose to trust God's leading rather than your own understanding?

Sermon Summary

The congregation is invited to trust God through seasons of pressure, framed by the Exodus narrative and lived examples from church life. Trials are presented not as random punishments but as integral to God’s work—evidence that growth and promise are unfolding even when circumstances feel like oppression. The account of Israel multiplying under Pharaoh’s cruelty becomes a lens: what looks like threat to human rulers is fruitfulness from God’s perspective. Obedience to God, paradoxically, often provokes resistance from others and intensifies hardship; Moses’ return to confront Pharaoh brings heavier labor, not instant relief. Yet that resistance is not merely an obstacle—it is woven into God’s strategy so that when deliverance comes it is unmistakably His doing.

Pressure is portrayed as the necessary prelude to power. Using the image of a glow stick, the preacher explains that light appears only when the stick is broken; similarly, God sometimes allows pressure to break self-reliance so His power can shine. The Red Sea moment is emphasized: God told Israel to move forward before dividing the waters, showing that faith requires stepping into the path before the visible miracle. Practical examples from the church—tents blown down before a successful community outreach, pivoting to parking-lot worship and online children’s ministry during COVID—underscore how forward movement in obedience opened unexpected avenues of blessing and growth.

The talk closes with pastoral invitations: for those who are weary, grieving, or parched for direction, pressure may be the doorway to new chapters; for those hesitant about baptism or salvific commitment, stepping forward is the necessary act that allows God to work. The congregation is reminded of communal support—church family walks with one another through trials—and encouraged to continue practical faithfulness such as tithing and service. Ultimately, the portrayal is hopeful and sober: God is not surprised by hardship, He is at work in it, and He calls believers to trust, obey, and move forward so His power and glory may be revealed.

Key Takeaways

1. Trials signal God's formative work Trials are not proof of divine absence but evidence of growth in progress. When life feels like oppression, that struggle can be the soil where maturity, wisdom, and fruitfulness are being cultivated. Trust reframes hardship from meaningless pain into purposeful shaping toward Christlikeness. [48:39]
2. Obedience often invites fierce resistance Stepping into God’s assignment can provoke opposition from people, systems, and circumstances. Resistance does not always indicate error; at times it confirms effectiveness and spiritual threat to the enemy. Endurance and faithfulness in such seasons reveal whose work is truly at stake. [54:17]
3. Pressure prepares for God's power Brokenness and pressure strip away self-reliance so God’s power can be unmistakable. Like a glow stick that shines only when cracked, believers often find God’s light most visible after the pressure peaks. Expect refinement, not merely relief, as God readies a testimony. [66:18]
4. Move forward; God will make way Faith requires obedience before sight—advance when commanded, not only when the path is clear. Stepping forward positions one for God’s intervention; the miracle often follows the obedient step, not precedes it. Courageous movement honors God’s promise to make a way where there seems to be none. [74:59]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[28:16] - Announcements: Chili cook-off & baby pics
[31:16] - Giving options and tithing
[31:52] - Prayer before offering
[38:15] - Theme: Trust in the Lord
[40:16] - Scripture focus: Exodus
[41:23] - Illustration: the fern story
[44:06] - Shared trials in the congregation
[46:33] - Exodus 1: Israel under oppression
[54:17] - Obedience brings resistance
[66:18] - Pressure precedes God's power
[74:59] - Move forward before the miracle
[81:48] - Invitation to prayer and response
[88:35] - Closing and benediction

Bible Study Guide

Here is a Bible study guide based on the sermon summary:

Bible Reading

Exodus 1:8-14
Exodus 5:1-9
Exodus 14:13-16

Observation questions

The sermon highlights that Pharaoh saw the Israelites multiplying as a threat, but God saw it as fruitfulness. How does this contrast in perspective play out in Exodus 1:12, where the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they multiplied? [48:18]
When Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh, "Let my people go," what was Pharaoh's immediate reaction and command regarding their work? [56:35] [57:03]
The sermon uses the analogy of a glow stick that only shines when broken. How does the passage in Exodus 7:3-5 illustrate this idea of pressure preceding God's power, with Pharaoh's heart being hardened? [01:06:32]
According to the sermon, what was God's instruction to Moses when the Israelites were trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh's approaching army? [01:13:59]

Interpretation questions

The sermon suggests that trials are not random punishments but are integral to God's work, even when they feel like oppression. How does the multiplication of the Israelites under Pharaoh's cruelty demonstrate that what looks like a threat to human rulers is fruitfulness from God's perspective? [50:11]
The sermon points out that obedience to God, like Moses confronting Pharaoh, often provokes resistance and intensifies hardship. How does Pharaoh's response in Exodus 5:8-9, making the work harder and reducing straw, illustrate that obedience can lead to increased pressure rather than immediate relief? [57:53]
The sermon explains that pressure is the necessary prelude to power, using the glow stick analogy. How does God's strategy in Exodus 7:3-5, allowing Pharaoh's heart to remain hard so His power is unmistakable, show that resistance is woven into God's plan for deliverance? [01:08:15]
The sermon emphasizes that faith requires stepping into the path before the visible miracle, as seen with the Red Sea. How does God's command in Exodus 14:15, "Tell the Israelites to move on," before the waters were divided, highlight that God often works *after* the obedient step, not before? [01:14:59]

Application questions

The sermon states that trials signal God's formative work, meaning they are evidence of growth in progress. When life feels like oppression, how can we reframe that hardship not as meaningless pain, but as purposeful shaping toward Christlikeness? [48:39]
We are told that obedience often invites fierce resistance, and this resistance doesn't always indicate error but can confirm effectiveness. Can you think of a time when stepping into God's assignment or doing what you felt was right led to opposition from people, systems, or circumstances? How did you respond? [54:17]
The sermon uses the image of a glow stick to explain that light appears only when the stick is broken. In what areas of your life might pressure be breaking away self-reliance so that God's power can shine more clearly? [01:06:18]
The sermon encourages us to move forward in obedience even when the path isn't clear, trusting that God will make a way. When have you experienced God making a way for you when there seemed to be no way, perhaps after you took an obedient step of faith? [01:12:06]
The sermon shared examples from church life, like tents being blown down before an outreach or pivoting to online ministry during COVID. How have you seen God use unexpected avenues of blessing and growth to emerge from challenging circumstances or shifts in plans? [01:16:26]
For those who are weary, grieving, or parched for direction, the sermon suggests that pressure may be a doorway to new chapters. If you are currently under pressure, what is one small, obedient step you can take this week that might open a door to a new chapter with God? [01:15:30]
The sermon reminds us that God is not surprised by hardship and is at work in it. How can remembering that God sees the entire plan, not just our current pain, help us trust Him more fully when we feel buried under difficult circumstances? [50:49]

Sermon Clips

``I just believe that God is doing something and I don't want to miss out on anything that God is doing. We have a theme that we have been looking at over the course of this year called trust in the Lord. And man, I didn't realize in back in November as I was praying through and seeking God's face how much that we would really need that theme going into this year. We we have a a verse that goes along with that which is Proverbs three five through six. [00:38:15] (31 seconds) #DontMissGodsWork

with all of our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding because there are moments like the moments that many of us are walking through right now that they simply do not make sense. And there when God is working in your life and when God is doing things in your life, there will be many times, if not all the time, that you do not understand what he is doing in your life but the reality is is that he is faithfully directing your path and he's directing my path and so this morning, I I want to as we've been talking about trusting the lord and we've been talking about trusting Jesus and trusting the holy spirit and I just felt like our church based on some things that have been taking place in individual lives just needed to hear a message on trusting god in the midst of our trials. [00:39:04] (61 seconds) #TrustBeyondUnderstanding

First and foremost, God sees you and he walks beside you but I just want you to hear your church family is also here and they're walking through many of these things at the same time that you are. And I think that's what the devil does. He tries to isolate you and feel like that you're going through these things all by yourself and I want you to hear this morning that you're not. And you might be thinking pastor Dan, you know, you mentioned those things. Why are you pointing me out? I'm not pointing you out. I'm wanting you to understand that this is something that is taking place across the board. And I just think that we need this morning to rediscover a story that many of us already know. [00:45:26] (44 seconds) #YouAreNotAloneChurch

The next thing that I want you to see is that trials are a part of god's work in your life because number three, pressure precedes his power. So, you have Pharaoh saying, I will not let the people go. Well, you know what happens. God says, well, I'm going to bring about the 10 plagues. In fact, look at this and if you skip over another two chapters in Exodus chapter seven. Exodus chapter seven, look with me in verse three. [01:06:18] (31 seconds) #PressurePrecedesPower

Here's what I want you to understand this morning. God is not surprised by the trials of your life. God is not up in heaven on his throne ringing his hands saying, what are we going to do? God sees the entire plan, not just your current pain. And here's what I want us to see is that you may feel absolutely buried. And you're thinking, man, I am buried under all of this weight. And here's what I want to encourage you with this morning. The reason you feel buried is because god is planting you for growth. He's planting you to become something that you never could have imagined. [00:50:49] (50 seconds) #PlantedForGrowth

See, what resistance looks like in your life might actually be the evidence of god's work in your life. If the enemy is pushing back on you, maybe what's going on is that you're doing something right. [00:51:39] (24 seconds) #ResistanceMeansProgress

Across the board in our church, we must be doing something right because the enemy is not happy. Last year, we saw an abundance of people get saved and come to know Christ as their savior. We've had an abundance of baptisms and lives are being changed and marriages and families are being transformed. Adults and kids alike are growing like never before in their faith. They're hungry for their bible. They're hungry for prayer. They're hungry for worship. They're hungry for godly devil himself who sees the growth. He sees the change, and he's saying, I'm gonna try to put a cap on this. [00:52:03] (51 seconds) #GrowthBringsResistance

See, Pharaoh even tries to squash god's work by, if you know the story, by having the baby boys thrown into the Nile River but you see, god has a plan in the midst of all that. We've got to zoom out and see things from god's perspective and I just want to remind you, god's not done with you. God's not finished. [00:52:54] (27 seconds) #GodsWorkContinues

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Trusting God Through Trials: Pressure Precedes His Power

Devotional

Day 1: God's Plan Unfolds Through Trials

Day 2: Obedience Invites Resistance, Not Ease

Day 3: Pressure Reveals God's Unmistakable Power

Day 4: God Makes a Way Through the Impossible

Day 5: Trusting God Amidst the Storm

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Trusting God Through Trials: Pressure Precedes His Power

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