Exodus 3:7,8a Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham]—not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all—
The Israelites were enslaved and mistreated by the Egyptians for 400 years. Four hundred bitter years of pain, anguish, and shame. Four hundred years of wondering, “Where is God? Why does God ignore us? Why has God abandoned us?”
And then God speaks to Moses from a burning bush. “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.” Despite all their doubts and fears, God had been there the whole time. He had seen their misery. He had heard their crying out. He cared about their suffering.
We must know this about God. He is the God who sees, the God who hears, and the God who cares. We can identify with the suffering of the Israelites. In our lives, there are periods of pain, fear, and anguish. At times, we too wonder: Does God care? Does God see? Has God abandoned me?
We must turn to Exodus 3 and read again that God is the God who sees our pain, the God who hears our crying out, and the God who cares about our suffering. So don’t give up. Never give up. God is right there with you. We don’t understand His delays, but He’s the sovereign God, and we don’t understand all of his ways. We may not understand, but we must know He is right there with us. He sees, He hears, and He cares.
Moreover, in the very next verse, we see that God rescues. “And I have come down to deliver them.” That’s my God. That’s your God. The God who sees, the God who hears, the God who cares, and the God who rescues.
The more we see of God, and his grace, and covenant love, the more cause we shall see to worship him with reverence and godly fear. Bible Hub
Reflections: “Sometimes we must wait for the fullness of God’s grace to be revealed. Sometimes all we have is a promise, an assurance from God’s word. God’s plan of salvation – the grace He would bring through His Son, Jesus, took thousands of years to be fulfilled. Yet there was grace for every person He used along the way – grace that pointed to Jesus. Abraham saw just the beginning of our salvation, as his son was born only by the grace of God, life brought from a womb that was dead. Grace & Glory _Sheila Alewine
- What promise of grace has God made to you in His word? He is faithful to fulfill it, and gracious to give us the faith to wait for it.”
Prayer: Father, I thank You that sometimes You make us wait. It’s not always easy, but we can trust that You have a plan. You desire to show us Your grace. You also choose to use us to carry out Your plans of grace for others, just as You used Noah and Abraham as part of the story which brought us Jesus. They weren’t perfect, just as we aren’t perfect. They were just ordinary men who had experienced Your grace. Help me to be a person who faithfully waits for You to reveal Your sovereign purposes in my life, and to enjoy the grace You give me along the way. Amen. https://hope14me.org/weekly-devotion/
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