Dave spoke this evening from Exodus 6:1-9, focussing on the verse ‘Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ Often, the hardest questions we have to answer are those connnected to personal suffering. When we are ill, we wonder where God our healer is; when we suffer financial difficulties, we wonder where is the God who meets all our needs? When we feel we are stagnating, we question where the God who guides is; when we are depressed, we wonder where is the God who gives joy? Israel must have had many questions as to why God allowed them to suffer in Egypt for 430 years, but at the right time – a time known only to God – He sent Moses to ask Pharaoh to let His peopke go.
The people suffered; they saw God move in miraculous ways through the ten plagues on Egypt, but perhaps failed to understand that these plagues were intended to show the Egyptians who God really was. The Egyptians worshipped many gods, but ultimately none could do what the God of Israel did. God’s power was displayed for all to see.
The principle we see at work throughout the Bible is that in everything God does, His priority is that everyone knows He is the Lord; He alone will get the glory. God’s timing and purpose are not related to our ideas, but He works at the right time and for our ultimate good in everything. (Rom 8:28, Gal 4:4) Holding on to this truth in difficult times may not be easy, but we must learn, as Moses did, that He is the Lord our God.