Emily: “I hear you, but Rachel, why don’t you just try to explain your situation to them?”
Rachel: “What’s the use? They’ll never understand. No one understands. I’ve talked to them before, and their eyes just glaze over. I’m sure it all just goes in one ear and out the other. They could care less.”
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever thought: “Nobody understands my situation, and to make matters worse – nobody really cares?”
Joseph had died, and the new Pharaoh of Egypt had no connection, affection, or respect for Joseph’s contributions during his lifetime. The new Pharaoh saw Joseph’s burgeoning family as a threat to national security: they were multiplying so quickly. The repression and bondage of God’s people rapidly intensified. The children of Israel were forced into brutal slavery and hard, unreasonable and crushing labour. There were cries of despair – their future was bleak. Conditions deteriorated. The bitter oppression became more cruel and vicious.
The people groaned and wailed as they suffered day by day. But to whom could they turn for help? Joseph was their safe go-between – their connection, and, really, no one seemed to fill the vacuum after his death. Their cries would fall on deaf ears if they tried to seek pity or relief from the Egyptian taskmasters. It would achieve nothing other than a backlash of laughs, jeers, mockery and perhaps just another ferocious wave of persecution. Here’s the break in the story:
And the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel – and God knew. Exodus 2:23-25 ESV
How much more encouraging could it get? God heard. God remembered. God saw. God knew. God is no less aware of what is going on today than He was back then. He is fully aware of your situation. In fact, He is mindful of angles and twists and peculiarities in your circumstances that you haven’t even considered yet. And He sees and knows what others have failed to see or have been unwilling to admit.
God hears the groanings of your inner being. He sees you as you take off your coat and go into your room and flop on the bed, and bury your head. He feels (yes, God has feelings) those waves of despair that storm at you like a tsunami – when all you can do is take a very deep breath and exhale slowly. He knows your despair. He is not oblivious to your sense of hopelessness.
God knew back then, and in His own perfect timing, in love and tenderness, He set the wheels of victory in motion. And God still knows today. In fact, He is all-knowing. Isn’t that what omniscient means? He knows the ins and outs of your situation. Others may have a partial understanding of your circumstances. Some may empathize. A few may listen. But lift your eyes to the Lord this very day because He fully knows and He truly cares.
Read Psalm 139 to see what David said about your All-Knowing God.
LATEST Short Video in the Idioms Series – Lesson #5 Flash in the Pan
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.
Warmly in Christ,
Peter Ramsay
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