Never Alone

Scripture Reference: Exodus 3:7-9The 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.8 "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, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.9 "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. (NASB)

In this ethereal journey we will traverse many trials and afflictions. We will engage many challenges and undergo multitudinous transformations as we progress towards spiritual maturity. The enemy will, in these instances, attempt to convince us that we are alone. He would have us believe that God has, in some way, forsaken us. However, in this scriptural passage, we find that God had not forgotten Israel. He had not become aloof or indifferent to their plight.

By the time that God speaks to Moses in this passage, the Israelites had been in bondage in Egypt for 144 years (the amount of time from Joseph’s death to the Exodus. The 400 years mentioned in Genesis 15:13 and Acts 7:6 date back to the time when Isaac weaned and confirmed as the seed and Ishmael was cast out [Genesis 21:12; Gal. 4:30). They had fallen from a position of prosperity and reverence among the Egyptians to one of oppression and servitude. They had come to a point in which it seemed to them that the hand of God no longer acted on their behalf. They spent many a hot day in the desert heat, under the fear of the task master’s whip, only to see the sun go down without even an inkling of deliverance. It is in this atmosphere of perceived hopelessness that God began the process of deliverance. It is when all except those who knew Him personally had written off the Israelites as nothing more than a slave race did God show Himself mighty on their behalf.

It is in this moment of despair that God inserts Himself. Some might say that God had left them to fend for themselves for four centuries. Some might postulate that they had traveled this journey alone. Yet if we study the Character of God, if we investigate His commitment to His covenantal promises, we will find that he is a constant help in the time of trouble (Ps. 46:1) It is through the power of God that the Israelites maintained the power to endure this perpetual and egregious struggle. They had not been left alone, but were a part of God’s plan. God had been there through every beating, through every heat scorched day, through every misdeed that they had suffered. He was completely cognizant of their pain and suffering and now He was about to move in a way that would be unmistakably God.

"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 (verse 7).”

God is telling Moses, “I have certainly seen every misdeed. I have witnessed every lash from the taskmaster’s whip. I have seen every tear fall from their eyes. I have not been unaware of their struggles. I hear their cries and I have come because of their cries. Let my people know that their prayers have been heard. Let my people know that delay was not an indication of desertion. I have been working even their pain for their good. From this group of slaves, I will raise a mighty people. From this group of slaves shall descend kings. From this group of slaves shall ascend the messiah, the one who will save the world. In their suffering I have created a testimony of my power.”

The God that moved on behalf of the Israelites then is the same God now. I know that there of those of you who are struggling in your own world of enslavement. Some of you are in abusive relationships that you can’t seem to escape. Some of you have been battling the pain of abandonment by parents and loved ones. Some of you have found yourselves encapsulated by the fear of uncertainty. Some of you have become engrossed in the cares of this life and have found peace to be quite allusive. I want you to know that you are not alone. I want you to apprehend the fact that you belong to a purpose greater than yourself. It is imperative that you understand that God is a God of deliverance and power. The enemy is trying to convince you that you are defeated, but you are more than a conqueror. The enemy is telling you that you have met your demise, but you are at your moment of elevation. God is speaking into your situation, “Be still and know that I am God (Ps. 46:10).” God is saying that I hear your cries, and I have come because of your cries.

Listen to what David had to say on the matter:

Dr. Rick Wallace 

“I waited patiently on the Lord; And he inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay. And he set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth… (Ps. 40:1-3).”

Praise God, for He is about to reach into your situation and give you a new song. He is about to pull you out of the pit of destruction and place your feet firmly on a rock of stability. He is about to rescue you from that dysfunctional relationship. He is about to speak peace into the tumultuous existence in which you now reside. He is about to calm the billows of your stormy seas. Shake free of the feelings of despair for God is about to bust a move in your life. The Bible says that David encouraged himself in the Lord. So begin to speak the promises of God into your situation. Stand on your faith and trust God to honor his Word. May you be blessed in the Lord. Dr. Rick Wallace