It is one of those mornings where there is a stillness in the atmosphere. After an Easter weekend of sunshine and joy, we have rain once again.
It’s a quiet, peaceful and calm morning where I am on the sofa with a cup of coffee and the dog curled up next to me. I feel the urge to pick up my kindle and read The Reader’s Bible. It’s a Bible that takes out all of the verse numbers. It provides a beautiful, fluent reading experience.
I put on ‘Come He’s Waiting’ by William Augusto and decided to read the Book of Exodus. It was a particular passage that really touched my heart this morning.
‘During those many days the King of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel – and God knew.’
Exodus Chapter 2 (Reader’s Bible ESV)
God hears our cries and hears our prayers, and He always fulfils His promises. The story of the Israelites in Egypt can often seem like a reflection of our lives today. Things seem to go well one moment, and then it feels like we lose everything and we feel like we’re in this slavery of pain and suffering. God hasn’t forgotten you. His promises still stand and He won’t fail you.
Did God Forget His Covenant With Israel?
“and God remembered His covenant with Abraham , with Isaac, and with Jacob.” The key word here is zāḵar. The best way to translate this word into modern language is through the word ‘remembered’ or ‘to remember.’ However, to understand the Hebrew word more by looking at the context of the word. The word means to action something, rather then something slipping the mind. For example, in Psalm 77:9, the Psalmist says, “Has God forgotten to be gracious?” The Psalmist isn’t asking if God had forgotten the Psalmist’s plea, but he was asking, “why God hasn’t acted graciously?” Why hasn’t God acted?
So, when you apply this to the Exodus passage, you get something like this, “and God was ready to act on His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” Pretty breath taking, right? And God certainly did act upon His word and kept His promise by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, and into the promised land.
Therefore, if God acted upon His word for the Israelites, then He will certainly act upon His word and promises in your life!
Talk to God
One thing that is important for us Christians to do is to talk to God about how we are feeling. We often think of God as this human being that we don’t really want to disturb because He is very busy and we don’t want to burden Him. That’s not how it works. The thing about God is that He wants us to put forward our burdens. God wants a deep relationship with all of His children and for any relationship to work, there needs to be communication.
The Israelites cried out to God to be set free from slavery and He delivered. He didn’t just set them free, but He led them into the promised land.
A key part that stood out to me in this passage was ‘and God knew.’ God knew their suffering, God knew their cries and He had a plan in place.
The point I’m trying to make today is that it doesn’t matter how big or small our burdens are, we serve a God who is omnipotent and omnipresent; who has a plan in place for every single one of us. Cory Ashbury wrote in his song ‘Reckless Love,’ “There’s no shadow You won’t light up, Mountain You won’t climb up, Coming after me, There’s no wall You won’t kick down, Lie You won’t tear down, Coming after me.”
Can I Get an Amen?
God hasn’t forgotten you. He loves you so much that He will always pull through for you. Things might seem challenging, but challenges make us stronger. Lastly, Remain faithful in God and trust in Him. Amen!