Scripture:
Exodus 6:9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.
Observation:
The LORD had spoken powerfully and pointedly to Moses about His intention to set the people of Israel free from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. His actions were in direct answer to the cries of the people who were being mistreated. He even indicated the way the liberation was to come – that Pharaoh would harden his heart repeatedly in the process. And then Moses passed on what he had heard to the people he came to set free. Their emotional and spiritual state was so low that they could not receive any such encouragement. The circumstances of their lives had deafened them to any suggestion that things would get better.
Application:
Do I ever become so disconsolate that I cannot receive a good report or a promise even from God? When (not if) that happens, I disqualify myself for blessing, straight up. Life has ups and it has downs, but my faith needs to be made to operate on a flat plain. The harshness of my circumstance mustn’t be allowed to dominate the air waves. “This too will pass” is even a compromise when God grants deliverance in power and utter victory over my sin and defeat. It won’t just pass, it will be reversed!! To project the difficulty of my life onto the face of a god (small g because it’s NOT God) who is just trying to wear me down is to belie the overwhelming force of the Spirit of God active within me. I MUST see the end from the beginning, or at LEAST know (to quote Rosabeth Moss Canter) – “everything is broken in the middle.” God doesn’t even need raw materials to do His work, though He often chooses the most raw of them all – me. Grace works in the slime pit of drudgery.
Prayer:
Father, forgive me for the times I ceased to listen to You in deference to my circumstances. Grant that I might yet see Your good purpose wherever I have ceased to perceive it. In Jesus’ name, amen.
