Discouragement > Faith
“Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.”
God’s people, the Israelites who had lived in Egypt for generations, had been enslaved by the Egyptians. Among their many duties as slaves, they made mud bricks with straw to help bind the bricks together. Under the oppression of the Egyptians, the Israelites cried out in prayer to God for deliverance.
“Let my people go,” proclaims Moses to the Egyptian Pharaoh on God’s behalf.
“Let your people get their own straw,” replies Pharaoh. Same backbreaking brick quota. Double the difficulty.
After his failed meeting with Pharaoh and with the Israelites suffering increasingly harsh treatment, Moses proclaims God’s message to the Israelites. “I am God. I will free you. I will keep my promises.”
Yet, as Exodus 6:9 reports, “they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.”
God’s people were so discouraged by their situation, they could not listen to God.
Discouragement greater than faith.
When is the last time you were in such a state? Maybe you feel that way today.
Your circumstances are so difficult that God and His promises seem far away. You want to believe the Bible but can’t. You want to walk in daily love relationship with God but can’t. You are beat down, tired, anxious, and you want to give up.
Let us pray for one another to know and have faith in God’s promises amidst whatever difficulties we face.
Don’t allow the discouragement of your current situation to be greater than your faith in our sovereign, loving God. With encouragement from the Holy Spirit and through the Bible, turn that equation around.
Faith greater than discouragement.