I recently read the book Joyful Journey: Listening to Immanuel. The book is helpful in outlining a strategy to journal intimately with God. Although I enjoyed reading about the strategy and have practiced it a few times, the bigger take away from the book for me was a deep dive into Exodus 3:7-8a (emphasis mine).
Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
God not only saw and heard his people. He cared for them and ensured he was with them. He also showed compassion towards them by doing something for them.
God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Therefore, this same God sees us, hears us, knows us, is with us, and will do something for us in our times of struggle!
God sees
God sees us without judgment. He sees our smiles and our tears. He sees our stomachs in knots, our pacing, our nail biting, and kind gestures towards others. As Genesis 16:13 reminds us, God sees all of us. “So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
God hears
God not only hears our verbal utterances, but he hears our thoughts and words unspoken. He hears our sighs and grumbles, and he hears our thanks and praises. While listening, he does not condemn us and continues to love us. Isaiah 6:24 reiterates the promise that God hears us. “Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
God knows and understands
God understands how big and hard our challenges are. He does not minimize our struggles and continues to care for us. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
God is with us
One of God’s names is Immanuel, which means God with us. He met the Israelites in their time of struggle, and he does the same for us. He is glad to be with us and treats our weaknesses tenderly. Psalm 139:1 gives us reason to rejoice in this promise. “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!”
God cares for us tangibly
God moved the people out of Egypt; he tangibly met their needs. We can lean on the many Scriptural promises that God cares for us and will meet our needs. Romans 8:31 is one example of many promises. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Immanuel
I’m grateful to serve a God who takes the time to intimately know me. He could be a God who only rules perfectly from heaven, and yet he makes himself known to me through Christ and the Holy Spirit by knowing the number of hairs on my head (Matthew 10:31), knowing me before I was created in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5), and being a God who is true to his Scripture promise in Exodus 3. He is a God who sees me, hears me, knows and understands me, is with me, and cares for me. Alleluia!
