Have you ever felt distant from God as you experienced suffering in your life? Perhaps you think there is hope and help coming from man, only to be disappointed by man. The answer, even when we may feel distant from God, is to cry out to Him and rely on Him rather than on man. God will hear the prayers of the righteous for help and will answer in His way and His timing.
Psalm 34:17 17The righteous cry, and the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
Proverbs 15:29 29The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
John 9:31 31“We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
1 Peter 3:12 12“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, aND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, bUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”
Most of us can only imagine the suffering and hardship the Hebrew people endured in Egypt as slaves. Many of them must have felt distant from God as they labored. Perhaps some put their hope in the situation becoming easier with the passing from one Pharaoh to another, but the relief did not come as they hoped. Only God would deliver them from this bondage and He was prepared to do so in a mighty way… to fulfill His promises and in response to the cry for help from His people.
23Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. 24So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.
This verse is not to be taken in such a way as to literally convey that God had forgotten His covenant. That is not the case. Rather it likely emphasizes that the cries for help from His people were important to Him and, it would seem, influenced His timing on bringing His people out of Egypt. His people were turning to Him for help in the midst of their great suffering. Perhaps they were ready to leave bondage and continue in the next steps toward becoming a great nation as He promised.
We do well to remember that God wants to hear from His people. He wants to hear from us as individuals as well. He wants us to ask Him for help in our trials and suffering. That way we may know that it is Him who delivers us from bondage and suffering rather than our own efforts.
What difficult or even painful situations are you dealing with in your life for which you have yet to cry out to God for help? You may have turned to other people for help or tried to help yourself, but have not yet succeeded in resolving the situations. Reflect on your life and your obedience to God’s commands, submit to Christ and live your life according to His word. This is called righteousness. Then cry out to God for help in whatever situation you need help. He hears the prayers of the righteous and will respond.
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