The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out,
and their cry for help . . . went up to God (Exodus 2:23).
In the opening chapters of Exodus we find the Pharaoh who
knew and valued Joseph is long dead and current leadership sees Jacob’s
descendants as at best a commodity to be exploited, and at worst a liability to
be eliminated. Moses, though raised in the palace, bristles at the treatment of
his people and determines to do something about it. His lack of impulse control
leads to murder, which forces him to run and spend the next 40 years of his
life in hiding.
In the meantime, the Israelites cry out for rescue; God
hears their prayer and sets the wheels of deliverance in motion. Predictably,
due to impatience or lack of faith (or both) they grumble against their God.
They accuse Moses, God’s instrument, of making things worse for them rather
than better.
It boils down to tunnel vision. They have expectations that
God will come through for them, and probably have the how and when orchestrated
in their own minds, but God refuses to dance to their choreography. God has a
plan in the works, and doesn’t need their advice. And because God works
differently than they expect, they don’t even see him coming. They have no idea
he is working in their midst.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Are you in need? What are
your expectations from God? Can you cry out for God’s help without telling him
what to do and how to do it?
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