Sometimes, the Lord gives us a difficult task. Be it a discipline, a project, or caring for a difficult person, it’s often easy to just give up. In Moses’s case, the task was to lead the Israelites to Canaan. Planning and executing a family trip is no piece of cake, but taking a family the population of a small town (at the very least) is overwhelmingly difficult.
The Israelites gave up as soon as they got thirsty (and they weren’t even leading), but Moses did not give up on them. Moses was no Superman. He was just as human as the Israelites, but God helped him endure by providing what he needed to take care of Israel.
When the Israelites were thirsty, God provided water to drink (Exodus 15:23-24). When the Israelites were hungry, God provided manna and quail to eat (Exodus 16). While the Israelites were in the wilderness, God provided a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night to guide them (Exodus 13:21-22). By doing this, God took the responsibility for the Israelites’ everyday needs off Moses’s shoulders, which likely relieved a lot of Moses’s stress and worries.
In addition to miraculous provision, God also provided people. When the Israelites went into their first battle, Moses held up his staff over them. When the staff was raised, the Israelites would win, but if the staff was lowered, their enemies would win. Moses’s brother, Aaron, and another man, Hur, stood on either side of him, helping Moses hold the staff up, and the Israelites won the battle. (Exodus 17:8-13)
Shortly after the battle, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, visited the him and the Israelites. When Jethro saw that Moses was judging the people’s problems day in and day out, he saw that it would burn him out, and advised Moses to choose able men who feared God and hated covetousness to judge the people. Moses listened Jethro’s suggestion and chose able men who judged the people and brought the hardest problems to Moses. (Exodus 18) This took even more stress and work off Moses, as the men shared the work with him.
It was quite a miracle that Moses could find enough qualified men he could trust to judge the people. It’s easy to think that God always works through the supernatural, but He often works through people too. We are not meant to work or suffer alone, and He sends people who can help us in the journey He set before us and help us endure, just like he did for Moses.
However, we all have a choice to make. When we follow God’s direction, He will provide what we need to patiently endure, but it’s up to us to choose what we do with it. God provided what Israel and Moses needed, yet one chose to give up when the going got tough and the other chose to stick to the task the Lord had given him.
The harder path may seem undesirable, but if God’s in it, He will guide and provide for you in every step you take.