Well, I want to title this next study, "Four Words to Change Your Life." This is from Exodus 2:23-25.
During those many days the king of Egypt died, 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.
We're considering at this moment what is one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament, maybe in all of the Bible, because these words speak into moments of spiritual doubt and dryness that I have, and you have too. It doesn't get any more encouraging than this. The story of the Children of Israel in Egypt really does challenge our theology. Is God really a God of love? Is he really sovereign? Does he keep his promises? It seems like the suffering of Israel in Egypt has gone on so long. And maybe you're thinking, "Israel's suffering, they're crying out to God for help; where is he? Is he there? Does he care? Is he going to do anything?"
Or maybe it's your own life and maybe you're in the exact same situation. You're suffering in some way; you're facing some kind of difficulty or trial, and you pray, and God seems unmoved and silent. Well, this passage is for you.
Here are the four words this passage speaks of encouragement to God's people. First, God "heard." The desperate prayers of the Israelites were not empty and useless religious activity by people to be pitied. No, God never ignores or fails to hear the cry of his children. God always hears; your prayers are never a waste of time.
Second word, God "remembered." He remembered his covenant. God looked down on the suffering of his children and he remembered the promises that he had made to them. God never fails to keep his promises. He is perfectly holy in every way and all of the time. He cannot and will not turn his back on his promises.
Third word, God "saw" the people of Israel. I love what Psalm 34:15 says, "The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry." There's no limit to that; there are no exclusions. The LORD has not forgotten Israel, and the LORD has not forgotten you. He is watching, paying loving attention to what you're going through.
Fourth word, God "knew." God, who is sovereign over all things all of the time, whose wisdom is infinite, knows every seen and unseen detail of the lives of his children. Prayer is not telling God what he doesn't already know. Prayer is placing ourselves in the hands of one who knows and cares and has promised to supply what we need. God "hears," God "remembers," God "sees," God "knows."
You see our problem in prayer is not God's knowledge and faithfulness. No, our problem in prayer is our struggle with his timing. That's what this passage reveals. That, in his wisdom, God's timing is not our timing. God waits at moments when we wish he wouldn't wait, but he always hears, he always remembers, he always sees, he always knows. And so, as we wait, struggling with God's timing, we need to say to ourselves, God "hears," God "remembers," God "sees," and he "knows," and I am not alone in my trouble!
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. How would you describe your posture towards God when it's difficult for you (or sometimes impossible!) to understand his sovereignty over all things? Why do you think it's so easy for us as human beings to question God when life doesn't go the way we've planned it to go? How do you normally react when you pray and God seems unmoved?
2. How can we know that God never fails to hear the cries of his children when they pray? Why are your prayers never a waste of time? In what ways can you remind yourself of God's faithfulness in the past to work in your life and answer your prayers?
3. Even though human beings constantly fail to remember their promises, why is God different from people in this way? How can you know that God will never turn his back on you and forget his promises?
4. In what ways is it comforting to you to know that God sees and knows everything about you and your life? How does your prayer life reflect the fact that God sees and knows all things? In what ways can your prayer life change in order to reflect the fact that God knows and sees all things?
5. Where are the areas in your life that you struggle with accepting God's timing for you? How might God be calling you to a deeper trust in him and his timing for all things in your life?
Conversation Prompts to Use with Children
For Younger Children:
1. What do you think the word "sovereign" means as you think about God? Do you ever wonder if God even hears your prayers?
2. How do you think we can know that God loves us, cares about us, hears us, sees us, and knows everything about us?
3. Why do you think it's important to trust God with his timing in our lives and not our own timing?
For Older Children:
1. In what ways have you wondered why God was doing things the way he does them in your life? Have you ever questioned his timing or motives?
2. Why do you think it's so easy for us as human beings to distrust God and his timing in our lives?
3. How can we be confident that God hears us, remembers us, sees us, and knows us? How has he proved that? In what ways can I help you to see that God hears, remembers, sees, and knows you?
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