“Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5b)I began to write this morning about discouragement because as I read Exodus 6, I see the people of God discouraged, unable to hear the delivering message from the Lord. They worked hard; actually they were in bondage; a life filled with burdens. In the midst of their pain, one more had joined their hard labor not only coming alongside them but actually dictating and ensuring they would never leave their post. This oppressive spirit of Discouragement was so intertwined in their lives that they were not able to hear the Delivering Message of the Lord when Moses said“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’” (Exodus 6:6-8)
Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor. (v 9)
When life is difficult and joy seems to elude us, we must quickly recognize who is surrounding us; discouragement, defeat, every spirit contrary to the Spirit of the Lord because their task is to keep us from hearing the delivering message that the Lord is speaking to us.
We worry and have conversations with ourselves about our dismay, about all that “is not”, all that we “cannot do”, a story of wows. David learned to encourage himself to victory; when depressed he wrote, Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? (Psalm 42:5a).
This is a prayer that we must learn quickly; this is an attitude that we must grasp with tenacity; this is a vision of victory that we must practice so that the voice of the enemy will be silenced.
Yes, life can be difficult; everything is not perfect but I harken to the voice of God in the Scriptures that says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8). God’s love protects, delivers, calms the storm raging in me, makes provision and silences the voice of every discouraging spirit so that I can have HIS Peace, sense his great love for me. He causes me to sing and say like David, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:5b)
Let’s take a quick survey and ask, who is dictating the look of our countenance today? Let’s be careful to hear the messenger when he says, “we’re outta here” (my version of Exodus).
I was reminded of an old hymn, “His eye is on the sparrow”. I began to sing as I began to write. I quickly began to gently embrace every tear that streamed down my face this morning. You see, as I continued to worship the Lord my eyes were directed to the kitchen window; a little bird flew on one of the bare branches outside by the deck covered in snow almost on queue. What a picture of God’s trust. It’s freezing outside and this little bird does not pay attention to what his little eyes see; he is not concerned about the temperatures that continue to drop; he knows that food for his little belly will come. Deliverance; well surely Spring is on the way and soon his morning song will be even louder for all to hear; for my ears to hear and remind me…”his eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me”!
His Eye is on the Sparrow: Listen…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9qYU8EAsNM
