One of the questions that we ask ourselves in times of trouble and suffering is this: Does God know my pain and does God hear my cries for help? That is a good question when we are hurting and the heavens seem to be shut like airtight doors. Where is God in all of this? Does He see my need and my pain? 

This was the question that the Israelites asked as they suffered in slavery in the land of Egypt in Exodus chapter two. In verses 23-25 we get an answer to this question. “During that long period, the King of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”

Here is the truth! There is nothing in our lives that escapes the attention of God. He loves us. He cares about us and He always has his eye on our lives. The Scriptures say that He neither slumbers or sleeps. He knows our situations in intimate detail. More than that, our cries reach Him. Our prayers are heard by Him and I love the last line of these verses where it says, “So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them."

By extension that means that He is concerned about you and about me when we face trouble and heartache. That is a way of saying that he is aware and intends to do something about our situation. The heart of God is one of compassion for those made in His image and He is not simply an innocent bystander to the issues we face. In fact, these verses come right before chapter three of Exodus where God meets Moses at the Burning Bush to recruit him to lead the people from their bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land of Israel. 

God had made certain promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to make them into a mighty nation with their own land. And the thing about God is that He never forgets His promises. He didn’t then and He doesn’t today. The Scriptures are full of the promises of God to us and He never forgets. Rather He is always fulfilling His promises to us. He hears us. He sees us and He acts on our behalf.

What the Israelites didn’t know is that God had just the person to lead them out of slavery. He was a man wanted for murder in Egypt, a has-been with all kinds of personal issues from his childhood, a man who had been on the run for forty years because of his killing of an Egyptian guard who was beating one of the Israelites. And a man who never believed that God could use him because of his checkered past. That man was Moses. God always has a plan and His plan is always counterintuitive to what we believe He will do. 

As I unpack lessons from the Exodus I would encourage you to read that book along with me. For tomorrow, read chapters one to three. Explore with me the lessons from this amazing Old Testament book. It will change your life. 

I’d love to hear from you at [email protected].

Father, I thank you that you always see my situation, hear my prayers and are working on my behalf. Help me to trust you with the situations I face. Today and tomorrow and the next day. Amen.