A Broken Spirit and Hard Labor
Sometimes we find it difficult to do what we are told to do or what we know we need to do. This can happen for a variety of reasons. It is a serious situation, so we need to discern why we are having this trouble. If the problem persists, we can end up missing out on what we need to be doing, even failing to do what God told us to do. That can be very damaging to our lives. The Israelites experienced this in Egypt after Moses came back to lead them to Canaan. Moses' request for Pharaoh to let the Israelites go made him mad. He made it hard on the Hebrew slaves by making them gather their own straw, but still make just as many bricks. This caused them to have a broken spirit and to be worn out physically. (Exodus 6:9) These two conditions made them not listen to God's commands through Moses. They should have been happy, but they were miserable and defeated. Let's see what we can learn from this.
Every one of us is a body, soul, and spirit. We can't exist without all 3 because that is how God designed humans. Our soul is who we are. It is our mind, our will, and our emotions. Our spirit is the part of us that can relate to God. We can communicate with Him, and He can speak to us. The body houses the soul and spirit. Whatever affects the body also affects the soul and the spirit. Therefore, we need all three functioning well to really do what we need to do. A broken spirit comes from being discouraged. It takes away our hope, so it can lead to full depression. When our spirit is broken, we must go the the Lord and His Word to revive our connection to Him, and He will nourish us, as only He can do. When our body is tired from work and/or stress, it keeps our spirit and our soul from being their best. Therefore, we need to stay physically healthy and rested, as well as, staying in touch with God each day. That way, we always have the energy and stamina we need to carry out God's will for our lives. I pray we would all overcome challenges like these and live the abundant Christian life every day.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 7-9.