Are there ever days when you pray and wonder if you’re getting through? I do. Sometimes I wonder if my pleas directed to the ceiling or at the sky are getting through to the other side. Is God really listening? There is a passage from Exodus that has profoundly impacted my perspective of prayer.
The Israelites have spent 400 years enslaved in Egypt . They are not only oppressed, they are depressed. In their sorrow they have cried out to the only hope they have—God Himself. I’m certain that this was not the first time the Lord heard from them over the course of four centuries. They had to wonder whether or not God was going to respond. Their great expectations to witness God’s divine power turned to decades of disappointment as their earthly pleas were met with Heaven’s silence. Sound familiar to your life? It does to mine. Sometimes I feel like I’m living the sequel: Exodus 2. Have you ever anxiously waited by the phone for someone to call or the mail man to arrive with a certain letter? You wait and wait and then when you least expect it, the word you’ve been waiting for arrives. That must be what the children of Israel felt like. At long last God spoke…
7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt . I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them… Exodus 3
It’s amazing how a handful of words can bring me to my knees. God says He has seen the suffering of his people. He saw what was happening! If He saw them, then He must see me. Sometimes it’s enough to know that someone sees our suffering. But He doesn’t stop there. The Lord said He heard the cries of His people. He was listening with a heart turned toward them. Then, He expresses His concern for them because He loved them. In the end, God speaks the word that stirs fire within my bones: He said He has come down to rescue them. The Father wasn’t passive in His response to their prayers. God showed up in a way that changed the course of history! I’m not an overly sensitive guy, but this passage brings tears to my eyes. It is a relevant reminder of God’s great love for us. Read the words out loud; they will cause courage and hope to rise in your soul.
I am still waiting to be rescued from some Egypt areas in my life. In others, He has parted the Red Sea and I have walked free. But no matter where you are on this freedom journey, remember this: God sees you, He hears you, He’s concerned for you, and He’s coming down to rescue you.
The Israelites have spent 400 years enslaved in Egypt . They are not only oppressed, they are depressed. In their sorrow they have cried out to the only hope they have—God Himself. I’m certain that this was not the first time the Lord heard from them over the course of four centuries. They had to wonder whether or not God was going to respond. Their great expectations to witness God’s divine power turned to decades of disappointment as their earthly pleas were met with Heaven’s silence. Sound familiar to your life? It does to mine. Sometimes I feel like I’m living the sequel: Exodus 2. Have you ever anxiously waited by the phone for someone to call or the mail man to arrive with a certain letter? You wait and wait and then when you least expect it, the word you’ve been waiting for arrives. That must be what the children of Israel felt like. At long last God spoke…
7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt . I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them… Exodus 3
It’s amazing how a handful of words can bring me to my knees. God says He has seen the suffering of his people. He saw what was happening! If He saw them, then He must see me. Sometimes it’s enough to know that someone sees our suffering. But He doesn’t stop there. The Lord said He heard the cries of His people. He was listening with a heart turned toward them. Then, He expresses His concern for them because He loved them. In the end, God speaks the word that stirs fire within my bones: He said He has come down to rescue them. The Father wasn’t passive in His response to their prayers. God showed up in a way that changed the course of history! I’m not an overly sensitive guy, but this passage brings tears to my eyes. It is a relevant reminder of God’s great love for us. Read the words out loud; they will cause courage and hope to rise in your soul.
I am still waiting to be rescued from some Egypt areas in my life. In others, He has parted the Red Sea and I have walked free. But no matter where you are on this freedom journey, remember this: God sees you, He hears you, He’s concerned for you, and He’s coming down to rescue you.
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