Broken Spirit, Hard Labor

“Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.” (Exodus 6:9 CSB)

As far as the Israelites were concerned, Moses had done a royal job of messing things up and making their lives the worst they had ever been. Some leader! After the first meeting with Pharoah, Pharoah decided the people had too much time on their hands, so he ramped up the intensity by requiring them to get their own straw for meeting their brick quota.

A distressed Moses took the matter to God, and God simply told him to tell the Israelites He was going to deliver them from the Egyptians and take them to the land of promise. By this time, however, the Israelites were in no mood to listen to Moses. Their spirit was broken, and the labor was harder than it had ever been. This did not appear to them to be the direction of a deliverance. Actually, it did not appear that way to Moses either. When the Lord told him to go back to Pharoah, Moses’ response essentially was, “Well, first, I’m a really poor speaker, and second, why should Pharoah even bother listening to me?” God simply told Moses to go anyway. So he and Aaron did as the Lord commanded.

Sometimes people’s lives can get to a point where they feel broken in spirit, which intensifies the feeling that their work or labor is sometimes unbearable. They do not feel like listening to anyone, and they just limp along through life with not a lot of hope or happiness. At such times, what can family and friends do that will help?

The first thing they can do is simply intercede for them to the Lord, that is, pray for them and ask the Lord for help in finding ways to minister to their needs. The second thing is action. Once the Lord shows a way or opens a door, they need to follow through with action to do “as the Lord commanded.” In other words, we have to trust God to lead and to accomplish what He says He will do in someone’s life, and for our part, we simply need to act on whatever the Lord leads us to do. As with the Israelites, that could make things even more difficult for a while, but ultimately it is going to lead to deliverance.

Lord, For those we see hurting today in some way, who may be broken in spirit and dealing with hard labor, show us the way You would have us minister to them, and then help us to act on Your leading. Amen.