Discouragement Makes You Forget

In my Good Morning Girls readings this week I was most impressed by Exodus 6:9-

“ Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.”

So what was the this that Moses reported to them? -That God remembered his covenant and would take them out of Egypt and give them the land of Canaan.

Unfortunately their discouragement kept them from listening to what they needed to hear.  Don’t get me wrong, I get why they were discouraged.  Moses had asked Pharaoh to let them go, he said no and then poured on more hard labor for the enslaved people.  Moses had initially gotten their hopes up but the first time Pharaoh said no they lost all hope and became discouraged.

Their discouragement made them forget.

It made them forget not only God’s promise of deliverance but also the fact that God keeps his promises.  He made a covenant with his people and he would fulfill the terms of that covenant… whether Israel kept theirs or not.

Reading these verses this week reminded me that I must never let my discouragement about difficult circumstances overshadow the fact that God keeps his promises. 

What are his promises?  There are so many in the Bible, I’m not going to list them all here.  But the one that I mentioned last week is the one that I believe sums it all up-

Even in the midst of the hard, grueling labor that Pharaoh doled out and in all the times he said “no, you can’t go” and the subsequents plagues… even in the midst of all of that God was working for their good.  They just couldn’t see it.

I pray that God helps me to see it… even in the hard times.

If you’re also reading along I’d love to hear what spoke to you about this week’s readings.  If you’re not reading along please feel free to join in with us this month as we study the book of Exodus!