I Have Heard Your Cry

  Then the LORD told Moses, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them  (Exodus 3:7-8)

Wednesday, Third Week of Easter

Merciful Lord, hear the prayers of your people.  May we who have received your gift of faith share for ever in the new life of Christ.  Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen

Dear friends,

Does God care about what is happening to people today?  There are so many who are getting sick, so many that have lost loved ones to this virus, so many who have lost jobs, lost business, and lost revenue.  Does God care about such things?

The answer is a resounding, “Yes!”  He cares for you.

For those who do not have faith in God, they cannot see his work.  They write off miracles and blessings, as luck and good fortune.  They think that if God really did exist, that he would have prevented this disease from ravaging the world.  The fact that this COVID-19 virus is going viral seems to unbelievers another nail in the coffin of the existence of a deity.

Yet thousands of years before Christ was born, God saw the oppression against his people Israel, he heard their cries of distress, and he said to Moses, “I am aware of their suffering.  So I have come down to rescue them.”  God was not blind or deaf to their plight.  He was very much aware.  God’s rescue effort was spectacular.  So much so the world has not seen anything like what God did through Moses in setting his people free from Egypt.

But we should not miss the fact that the Exodus was a precursor, merely a microcosm, just a tiny little thumbnail picture, of the bigger rescue that God carried out for the whole world.  Our Creator God is operating from a Grand Plan.  And it involves you.  And it involved his Son, Jesus.

God sent his one and only Son to deliver all humanity from the deadliest disease that has ever spread across the entire planet.  It is not COVID-19. No, this disease affects the whole world.  And it has sickened many, many people. The side effects of this disease are terrible and leave a person worse than before.  And yes, you have already tested positive for this disease.

There is no vaccine for this virus.  It’s death rate is 100%.  The worse outcome of this disease is that it cuts off a person from the One who loves them most and who gives them Life that lasts forever.

This terrible disease is called by many names: unbelief, idolatry, immorality, greed, pride, envy, lust, iniquity, hatred, malice…  The list goes on.  We seem to create new strains and mutations as time rolls on.

Yet Jesus has conquered this disease once and for all.  The cure is in his blood shed for you.  If you want to be rid of this disease once and for all, God offers you the saving prescription: cry out to God and believe in Jesus.

As you fulfill that prescription, know this: God has heard your cry.  He knows what you are going through.  He sees all that is happening to you.  He is there for you.  He conquers all for you.

Trusting in him,
Pastor Langdon Reinke

P.S.   Hope you and your family are healthy and safe.  We are in this together.  We have help available if there are needs.  Please let us know.

Do you have something to share?

Do you have a thought, a devotion, a scripture, or prayer to share? Send it to me at pastor@beautifulsaviorspokane.org.  I look forward to sharing what God puts on your heart.

Here is a devotional thought submitted by Charles Brondos.  Charles writes, “E. Louise Williams is a Deaconess friend of Virginia. I have met her at the Deaconess meetings that I have been able to attend.  She is very gifted writer and speaker. She posted this last week:

“From my morning reading:

O God, we pray this day:
for all who have a song they cannot sing,
for all who have a burden they cannot bear,
for all who live in chains they cannot break,
for all who wander homeless and cannot return,
for those who are sick and for those who tend them,
for those who wait for loved ones and wait in vain,
for those who live in hunger
and for those who will not share their bread,
for those who are misunderstood,
and for those who misunderstand,
for those who are captives,
and for those who are captors,
for those whose words of love
are locked within their hearts
and for those who yearn to hear those words.
Have mercy upon these, O God.
Have mercy on us all.”

Written by Ann Weems (From “Kneeling in Jerusalem,” quoted in “Greeting the Day- Morning Prayers and Meditations from Around the World,” edited by Bryan Wright)

Share a little light with others

These devotions are meant to be shared.  Please pass them along to others.  If you want to subscribe to Light for Today, send an email to pastor@beautifulsaviorspokane.org with your first and last name, and with the subject line “DAILY DEVOTION” and we will add you to the distribution list.  If you would like to opt out of receiving these daily emails, please update your subscription preferences and uncheck the “Daily Devotional” box.  God bless you!