Our Groaning

 The older I get the more I groan. No, it is not because I am sad or overwhelmed with life. It is because of my physical body not having the same energy and agility I used to have. Actually, everything else is doing very well. However, that is not the case for many people, maybe even some of you today. We can groan in sadness over the loss of a loved one. We can groan under the burden of our work. Often, we groan because we do not have what we want to have. I have good news for all of us groaners. God has heard our groans. (Exodus 2:24) Yes, God has excellent hearing and just like He heard the groans of the Hebrews in Egypt, He hears us. Also, He remembered His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We can be assured that God has heard our groans, and He remembers every promise to us. That should cause all of us to groan less.

God cares. He is compassionate toward us. He suffers with His children when we suffer. When we hurt, He hurts. When we rejoice, He rejoices. Some of us may ask, "Why doesn't God always come and take away whatever is causing us to groan?" That is a great question. The answer is that God always does what is best for us, and some of us need to groan a while longer until we are ready for God to come to us in love and rescue us the way He rescued the Hebrews from Egypt. We have to wait for the right time, as we depend on Him the way they did. God also remembers His promises to us from His Word and the ones He has spoken directly to our hearts. He will bring those promises to fulfillment at the right time and in the right way, too. However, no matter how much groaning we are doing, we can know that God is there, and He can and will comfort us in the right way, even before He relieves all of the groaning. What He really desires is for us to draw so near to Him that He can meet our needs and give us His wisdom to see us through. Then, our groanings can be turned into joy, like He did for the Hebrews.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 3-5.