9/26 - Exodus 2:26 - How completely are you crying out?

²³ After a long time …

the Israelites groaned under

their slavery, and cried out.

Out of the slavery their cry

for help rose up to God.

Exodus 2

 

Yesterday, Exodus 1 revealed Step 1 in the journey to freedom. What was it? One day the Israelites woke up and found that they’d become Pharaoh’s slave. That’s our first step too in the journey to freedom too. We must wake up and realize that we are in bondage.

 

Today we’ll discover that Exodus 2 reveals Step 2. It says, “After a long time … the Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out.”

 

That’s it. That’s step two. Cry out to God!

 

Pray! (Because freedom doesn’t come without it.)

 

Now, if you want to know what this cry of deliverance looks and sounds like, we must ask: Who cried out at the beginning of the Exodus?

 

Was it one priest who cried out on behalf of the people? (No. It was more than that.)

 

Was it a handful of Israel’s most faithful people? A small group? (No. It was more than that too.)

 

Who was it?

 

It was the nation as a whole.

 

It was all of Israel.

 

Collectively, the entire nation realized that they had truly and totally hit rock bottom. And they cried out as one.

 

This nation couldn’t bear the weight of oppression anymore. And so they groaned – as one – in utter desperation. They cried – as one – for help. Finally realizing the futility of relying on human solutions, all of Israel pleaded – as one – to God.

 

Now, apply that to your life. The freedom cry is not just part of you crying out. It’s all of you. It’s crying out with everything in you. It is every corner of your heart pleading … as one.

 

If you want freedom, you can’t say, “God heal this … but I’m going to keep rebelling, cheating, compromising, in these other areas.” The cry of freedom is total. It is complete. It is all … or nothing.

 

So … is all of you really crying … or just part of you? Is your desire to be free with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength? ^{see Deuteronomy 6:5} Indeed, what are the corners of your heart that keep compromising, keep stalling, keep holding out?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who spells “help”

with an ‘A’ and two ‘L’s

(A-L-L)