"and God knew..."

As I have mentioned several times, I've been reading through the Bible with my little one.  It has been an AMAZING journey!!!  I find things every day that I either didn't know or had forgotten.

This past Wednesday we finished the book of Genesis.  Thursday we went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast to celebrate our accomplishment.  (I want my little one to get excited about reading the Word and to realize how important it is!)  We also started Exodus on Thursday.

I thought for sure that there wouldn't be anything new for me in Exodus.  After all, I'm an expert (at least in my own eyes) on the story of Moses.  (I love when God decides to prove me wrong!)  I didn't get past chapter 2 before a phrase hit me for the very first time! I would imagine I have read that passage 100 times during Bible study throughout the years, yet it seemed completely new to me!

The passage was Exodus 2: 23-25...
During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.  And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. (ESV)

"And God knew."  The chapter ends right there.  Nothing else.  I actually turned the page thinking that it wasn't finished.  When I realized there was no more to chapter 2, I thought, "That's weird - and sort of abrupt." (It skips ahead to Moses tending his father-in-law's flock in chapter 3.)

And then I realized why God would stop the story there.  That's all that had to be said.  "And God knew." That's all that was needed.  The people of Israel were being abused and broken - crippled by slavery and hated by a paranoid Pharaoh.  They felt like they had been forgotten by God.  They needed reassurance.  And that's what they got!  God reminded them that He "knew."  He didn't tell them how He was gonna fix the situation. - They didn't need to be filled in on that yet.  All they needed to know was that He "knew."

Have you ever felt like that?  I know I have.  I remember when my Mama was had cancer.  I drew great strength from the fact that "God knew."  He knew my pain, my Mama's pain.  He knew what we "wanted."  He knew what we "needed."  He just "knew." 

He knows what you are dealing with too. And He cares.  He may not fill you in on the answer just yet.  But that's ok.  Sometimes you don't actually need to know the answer. - You just need to be reassured that He knows.  :)