The pasuk in Vaeira, Perek Vav, Pasuk Tes, says:
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר משֶׁ֛ה כֵּ֖ן אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְלֹ֤א שָֽׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־משֶׁ֔ה מִקֹּ֣צֶר ר֔וּחַ וּמֵֽעֲבֹדָ֖ה קָשָֽׁה
Moshe said over what HaShem had told him about the Geulah to the Bnei Yisroel, but they didn’t listen because of their shortness of breath and hard work.
The Seforno tells us that the Jewish People, by refusing to allow themselves to believe that they were about to be redeemed lost out on a unique opportunity, and as a result, only their children were zocheh to enter Eretz Yisroel. The Seforno also notes that they were not able to think of their Geulah due to the hard work which mentally and physically took up their lives. If the Jewish People were incapable of contemplating what Moshe was saying to them due to their slavery, why were they punished?
The answer can be found in the Sefer Paneach Raza, who explains that there was something deeper to their rejection of Moshe’s nevuah. He explains that more than their current difficulties, they feared that if they took the step to believe that Hashem was about to redeem them, it meant that they would have to accept the “burden” of receiving the Torah, which they felt was too great for them. Essentially, they feared that they were not on the madreigah to serve Hashem! As such, they preferred to stay in Mitzrayim and suffer their fate.
On this answer, too, we can ask the same question: if the Bnei Yisroel did not feel that they were on a high enough madreigah to serve Hashem, why were they punished; maybe they were right?
The answer is that Hashem never expects from us more than we are capable of doing. Therefore, their entire claim had no weight and their real reason for rejecting Moshe’s words was in order to avoid the burden of the Torah and its mitzvos.
This is something that we should all keep in mind. We see that HaShem never expects from us more than what He created us to be capable of. If we ever find ourselves in a difficult situation, we have to realize that although HaShem gave us a difficult challenge, He knows that overcoming it, or at least going on even through it, is within our capabilities. No matter how difficult something may seem, because it was sent from HaShem, it is not impossible.
