Too Down to Be Lifted Up: Receiving Encouragement

So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery.

Exodus 6:9 NLT

We’ve all been there before. We allow what we see and our circumstances to keep us from believing and abiding in the encouragement of God’s promises.
In the scripture , the Israelites were so oppressed, and so sick and tired of being enslaved, that when Moses came to them with a word of hope from the Lord, they didn’t listen because their “Spirit was in anguish” (NKJV) and they were “too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery” (NLT).

They didn’t even want to hear a word of hope let alone believe it was true.
God’s word tells us that faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). So if they didn’t even want to hear, I think it’s safe to say that their faith all dried up. And whatever was left was surely wavering in question.

Has this ever been you?

Too discouraged to pray.
Too frustrated about a situation to read your Bible. Or even feeling apathetic towards loved ones when they try to give you words and scriptures of encouragement?

Jesus came to live on earth to experience all we experience, so He can relate in times we feel hopeless.

So, God understands how our spirits can get down when we are in the middle of tough situations. He understands how we feel when our hope is slipping away like grains of sand sifting through our fingertips.

But I can assure you, that God never gives up on us.

He never grows weary of chasing us down with His mercy and goodness (Ps. 23:6).

I’m thankful that even when I may not be in an emotional space to receive encouragement from others, or even from God’s word, He doesn’t just throw His hands up and leave me to my own devices.

He doesn’t allow the wavering and unsteadiness of my emotions to thwart His plans to steady me in His love.

PETAL OF INSIGHT

He’s always working in the background, seeking to deliver us, restore us, and bring us into all of the good things He has promised us.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the gift of your word that refreshes, gives hope, gives wisdom, and lifts up our spirits when we are in tough times. Holy Spirit push me toward Your word when I’m feeling discouraged, when my faith is wavering, and my hope is fading. Father, open up my heart to be receptive to the life that is refreshed unto me every time I seek guidance through Your word.
In Jesus’s name, amen.