Daily Reading: Exodus 3
Scripture Focus: Then the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings…” (Exodus 3.7)
Devotional Thought: When we share our feelings with other people or share about situations or circumstances happening in our life, we want to know they are listening. Even more so, we want to know that we are heard. We want to know that what we shared affects change or prompts action in the listener. Whether we cry out to the sky or share our troubles, heartaches, or concerns with a friend, we want to know that someone hears our cry for help and is ready to help.
This was certainly the hope of the Hebrew people. As the memory of Joseph faded in Egypt, the oppression and exploitation of the Hebrew people grew. What started out as an act of mercy (the invitation for the Hebrews to wait out the famine in Egypt) soon grew into a life of slavery and terror. The Hebrew people cried out for help, for someone to hear and to rescue them. And God did hear. But not just any god, the true God with a NAME who knew the Hebrew people intimately. This YAHWEH responded and sent a deliverer to rescue the Hebrew people, His children.
Sometimes we find ourselves in situations and circumstances as dismal as the Hebrews. Sometimes these troubles are of our own making, other times they just aren’t. During these times, when you cry out for help, don’t just call out to anyone, call out to God. If anyone truly can hear, respond, and deliver us, it is God. God is listening, and not in some passive, distant, or uninterested way. God cares and stands ready to deliver—and will! God cares about you; you are His child. Cry out to Jesus!
Joe Young
Prayer: Father God, help me to remember today that you care and hear my cry for help. Help me to cast my cares upon you and trust you for deliverance. Thank you that my prayers never go unheard, and that your plans for deliverance are complete.
Psalm of the Day: 1 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! 2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, 3 because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me. 4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. 6 And I say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; 7 yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah 8 I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest." (Psalms 55:1-8)
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