Be Compassionate

For four hundred years, the Israelites were enslaved by Egyptian taskmasters who oppressed them and ‘…made their lives bitter…’

(Exodus 1:14). Many of us can relate to their feelings of helplessness when we think about areas in our own lives where we struggle with habits. Whether it’s food, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, or abusive relationships, we have all experienced a sense of powerlessness in our repeated attempts for freedom. 

Failure can produce chronic hopelessness, to the point where you give up trying. Broken and crushed, Israel cried out to the Lord, and He responded, ‘…I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows’ (Exodus 3:7). 

Notice how God extended compassion towards them: ‘And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey…’ (Exodus 3:8). God came down to bring them up – and He can do the same for you today. Israel’s deliverance called for the slaying of a spotless Passover lamb. They applied its blood to their doorposts, and the death angel passed over them. 

 The Bible says, ‘…Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us’ (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus Christ, our sacrificial lamb, shed His blood to set us free from whatever it is that’s enslaving you. What are you struggling with today? You can be released from captivity – not by your own futile efforts – but by trusting in the God who answers the cries of His people.