God Sees and Hears His People's Cry

EXODUS 3:7-10 

7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 

The word "oppression" describes deep mental or even physical anguish caused by an oppressor. The verses express the cruelty that the people of God experienced subjugate to Egyptian rule. An "Angel of the Lord [had] appeared to [Moses] in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush" (Exo. 3:2). Through this encounter, Moses was told he would be the one to deliver God's people from their misery and suffering.

Sometimes we are in circumstances we cannot get out of, causing us to feel deep mental and physical anguish. Even though we have cried out to God, He seems distant. The thing is, we often look for solutions in the wrong places. Our faith can be challenged when experiencing great difficulty. But these few verses remind us that God sees and hears our cry.

We also learn that God looks beyond our careless mistakes to accomplish His plan for our lives. In other words, God can use us regardless of our past actions. Moses was considered a murderer for he "killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand" (Exo. 2:12). He had come to the defense of "a Hebrew, one of his brethren" (Exo. 2:11). Yet, he was commissioned "to Pharaoh that [he] may bring [God's] people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt" (v. 10).

"The Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites" (v. 8) may be occupying the land God has promised. We can take courage that God has a plan for us despite the circumstances we may find ourselves in. We should never lay victim to life's challenges, but rather, push ahead in victory. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Heb 10:23).

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for always being faithful. You have heard my cry and have seen my struggles. But I will wait for that which you have promised to come to pass in my life. Amen!