God Feels Our Suffering

Food for Thought

“Here is the work of today—which is also the work of the whole of life. I’m called daily to open my heart afresh to the living Word of God.”

— Chris Webb, The Fire of the Word: Meeting God on Holy Ground, page 14

The Word of God for the People of God

Exodus 3:1-7 (excerpt) – Moses and the Burning Bush

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. . .

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. . .”

The Lord said, “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.”

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflection on the Word of God

This is a beloved story that many heard first in Sunday School as very young children. It fascinated our imaginations with visions of a bush on fire but not consumed by the flames. If we were lucky, our teachers let us marvel without explaining the mystery away with scientific theories. You were blessed if you were enabled to believe the account and accept it as a story that holds truth worth believing.

The truth is that there is more to the story than a bush on fire, or even the life-changing call that Moses would receive from God—which would become a world-changing event and a nation-shaping event for Israel. It is a window through which we meet God and find Him to be in love with His created children. He said to Moses, “I have seen the affliction of my people.” Notice the verb and notice the personal pronoun. We are God’s people. We belong to Him. He sees us and He cares about us. That is the essence of the story. It is not only about fire and flame, power and might. It is about being loved by the God who created us.

Personalize God’s words by replacing the words “my people” with the names of those you love who are in distress of some kind. Put your name in the blank as well. God went on to say, “I have heard the deep heart cries; I have felt the tears flowing in despair.” God hears us and—wonder of all wonders—He feels our sorrow. Jesus lived out this aspect of God’s love for us, when he confronted Paul on the road to Damascus and declared that the suffering which Paul was imposing on God’s people was felt by Jesus. (Acts 9:4)

We are not reading more into the text than is conveyed when we paraphrase it to read: I know and feel the suffering of grief and loss. I have come down to deliver them and you out of the grip of the evil that has entrapped you, to bring you into my abundant life. That is the way Jesus came to us. He came as the incarnation of God, saying at different times and different ways, “Take heart. Have no fear. I have come to bring you abundant life.” He came revealing God to us—a God who loves us like a Perfect, Holy Father. He came seeing, hearing and feeling our pain—to redeem and transform us, so that we can know that God loves us with everlasting love.

The God of Moses is the God of Incarnation in Christ—and our beloved Father in Heaven.

May your heart overflow with relief that the Great God of the Universe has come to you in Jesus, as He came to Moses in a flame. By faith, you can have confidence that you are greatly loved.

Our Response to God

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow! Amen.