“The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, and they cried out; and their cry for help ascended to God because of the difficult labor. So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and He took notice” (Exodus 2:23-25, HCSB).

Hundreds of years had passed since Joseph was prime minister of Egypt and had urged his father, Jacob, and his brothers to move down to Egypt. From the original seventy migrants, the Israelites had grown into a huge nation probably numbering in the millions.

The Israelites had become slaves of the powerful pharaohs who ruled Egypt. These pharaohs made great demands upon their Hebrew slaves and so the Israelites began to cry out to God to rescue them from their difficult circumstances.

In these verses, four different words for the Israelite outcry and God’s corresponding reaction combine to make a powerful statement about God’s response to the desperation of His people. God hears, remembers, sees, and takes notice of the predicament of the Israelites!

When God takes notice, something happens! Already, God had appointed a rescuer for the Israelites in the person of Moses. And we get an indication of what the exit strategy will be just a few verses later: “Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians… The Israelites’ cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt'”(Exodus 3:7-10).

When we cry out to God in desperation, we can be assured that God takes notice of our plight!

Now God may not resolve your problems when you would like or how you would choose, but He sees your problems, hears your plea for help and remembers His covenant with you. God notices your circumstances and will take appropriate action at a time and in a manner that will that will permit you to know Him and His will in a new and better way!

“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NLT).