11.01.07 RE:ading -- Exodus 3:1-22

RE:flect

“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

I am a lovely flower! I am..... Really!
.... really?

We can tell any lie we want to and it may not even make sense. But it can slowly begin to confuse our thinking. It can keep us from seeing the reality of our lives. It can change even our world view about life, ourselves…. our God. A lie that I know God hates is this, “ God doesn’t care, doesn’t hear me, isn’t there.” Really though, we do think this way… it is temptation (because we feel God is not answering us).

How many Hebrews began to pray for deliverance, and at the same time didn’t really believe that God was hearing them? What good is that prayer? Not good at all!

God does indeed notice, hear and have compassion on us all. You may not feel it, circumstance may not change immediately (if ever)—but God does indeed see and hear you. So NEVER let yourself, tell your self. “God doesn’t care about you!” He says, “NO… I am concerned for your suffering.”

RE:act

Okay. What areas of your life to you feel that God really doesn’t care about? Not so much the mundane decisions of what you should eat for lunch – or what table to sit at. What AREAS? What is a situation that has gone on for 2 years. Have you given up on it? Are your prayers without confidence—do they feel like a repeated ritual?

Do you suffer? Are you rejected by others? Has even the youth group failed you? Are you putting your trust in the institution of God (the church) and not the real power itself (God)? Take some time to think about how you live your life. What are you saying to the world and God by your choices?

RE:ply

O Father – hear me . Listen to my prayer. I know you do. And I love that you do. Teach me. Instruct me. Transform my mind to understand that you are all around me. That my life if significant to you. That you enjoy spending the day with me also.

Lord, I need to remember that you hear my cries, that you are concerned, that you are working for my best.

Lord forgive me for not allowing you to work in ___________________________________.

Lord forgive me as I have forgotten to lift ________________________ to your ears.

Lord, only you really care. I am sorry when I forget this. I need you to remind me of this often.

Jesus, be the strength of my day and the refuge for my soul.

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time…cast all your
anxiety [cares] on him because he cares for you.” ( II Peter 5:7-8)