Does God Hear Our Cry?
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 NASB).
There are moments in life where all we have is a cry.The Israelites were there. They had suffered under Egyptian bondage for 400 years. The situation under increasingly wicked kings grew worse and worse, and their bondage was increasing.The only response left was a desperate cry. Even in that, I’m sure they wondered if God was there; or, if so, would He even hear their cry?But God heard. He remembered His covenant, and He took notice.
A Deliverer
The response of God to the cry of His people was to raise up a man. God always uses leaders.It had taken eighty years to prepare this one. The proud young Hebrew-Egyptian thought he could deliver his brothers in his own strength but ended up running to the desert. Another humbling forty years had passed, and now Moses, the shepherd, was on the backside of the desert ... a fitting metaphor for his life.
A Burning God
In mercy, the Lord called Moses out and gave him all he needed for the task ... which was simply Himself.When the great I AM is with you, there is no need for other equipment or methodology. He is everything, and if you possess Him, you have all that is needed.Moses turned, now filled with God’s calling and power, to be the human conduit of deliverance to the people’s cry. And we know the rest of the story.
A Reminder
Lest Moses and succeeding generations think this was all Moses’ doing, the reason this scenario occurred is found at the end of this exchange:
The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.“So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.… Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them” (Exodus 3:7-9).
God saw, God gave heed to their cry, God came down to bring them up. The people cried in brokenness—the Lord answered in merciful deliverance.Does God hear our cry for deliverance? Would He hear the cry of His church across America right now if we were shut up to Him? ... if we had tried of all of our best methods and machinery? ... if we realized that nothing else could save us? ... if we really cried out?Most assuredly He would hear, and we have the promise of His nature that He would come down to bring us up for His glorious purposes.So, what will we do in this day of increasing unrighteousness and bondage? Plan another attempt at human deliverance? Or humbly cry out in unison to The-God-Who-Hears?