“And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people... Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.”
The Rest
This verse names Pharaoh’s own deliberate strategy, worth noticing directly, more work laid upon the men, specifically designed to prevent them from regarding vain words, worth holding as this book’s own sobering warning, increased busyness sometimes deliberately used to prevent genuine reflection or hope.
This is worth examining against however much your own increased busyness has functioned this same way, not accidentally but almost strategically, keeping you too occupied to actually consider whatever vain words, whatever genuine questions or hopes, might otherwise, genuinely surface if you actually had space to think.
Notice that they may labour therein, worth holding as honest naming that busyness itself can become a genuine tool of oppression, whether imposed by another or, more subtly, self- imposed, worth examining whether your own relentless activity has functioned this way, preventing genuine thought rather than merely filling time.
Consider today whether your own increased busyness has functioned like Pharaoh’s own deliberate strategy, not accidental but almost protective, keeping you too occupied to actually consider genuine questions or hopes that rest and stillness would otherwise, honestly allow to actually surface.
Practice Rest
- Consider honestly whether busyness has functioned to prevent genuine reflection in your own life.
- Notice what vain words, what genuine questions, increased activity may have been keeping at bay.
- Create space today, deliberately, for whatever thought this busyness has been actively preventing.
Prayer
Lord, show me honestly if my own busyness has functioned like Pharaoh’s strategy, keeping me too occupied to actually think or hope. Let me create genuine space today. Amen.
Carry this today
Busyness can function as a deliberate tool preventing genuine reflection, imposed or self- imposed.