“Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them” Exodus 2:23-25
Those consigned to a life of hard labor in slavery might well have imagined that their God had forgotten them. This had been their lot for over 400 years; entire generations had lived and died in these circumstances. And now things had gone from bad to worse under new leadership in the land, and these heavy-burdened people cried out desperately to their God. God heard, remembered, and “took notice of them.”
Was God unaware prior to this time? The wording of the text could give that impression, but we might better understand it to mean that God especially focused on their circumstances in light of the deliverance plan He was about to initiate. A decisive moment was at hand.
God’s timing is often mystifying. From the vantage point of our limited mortal lives, His ways sometimes seem agonizingly slow. Does He not hear our heartfelt cries and prayers? Is He indifferent to our difficulties? The answer is found in these words: “God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant … God saw … and God took notice.”
God has heard your cry in your hour of agony and desperation. As His child through the new birth into Christ, He remembers that you are in a covenant relationship with Him. God sees, and He takes special notice, whether you are aware or not. In due time - His time - your deliverance comes.
God’s deliverance ultimately comes through His Son. There is nothing so wrong or so broken but what the return of Christ will not fix. There are signs around us that seem to indicate that the day of Christ’s return - the deliverance - is near. Whether near or far, it falls to us to wait, which may be the most difficult thing of all.
“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Psalm 27:14. As we wait, we wait with purpose: that our character be most fully developed through faith and a focus on our hope. We wait hopefully, knowing - as we’ve been reminded - that “God heard … God remembered His covenant … God saw … and God took notice.”
©Steve Taylor, 2025--Used by permission
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