Present with God: In my Slavery

'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. ' -Exodus 2:23-25

None of us can know the dehumanizing daily agony of being a slave, but most of us know what it's like to feel trapped in a situation you don't want to be in and feel powerless to get out of it. That is why slavery has been such a powerful metaphor for God's people. You feel trapped in a cycle of sin and shame. You feel powerless against your secret addiction. You feel like there is no way you can escape or improve your toxic relationships. You feel like a slave to your cancer or your depression. You feel chained to a mountain of debt with no real path to financial freedom.

When the ancient Israelite people were enduring real slavery at the hands of their Egyptian masters, in desperation, they turned to God for relief. Notice that they didn't attempt to organize a strike or to stage a rebellion. They don't take matters into their own hands or just try to make the best of things. They understood the most powerful prayer one can pray is, "Help, God!"

Crying out to God recognizes two powerful truths. It recognizes the fact that we are powerless to effect real and lasting change in our lives without cultivating an ongoing awareness of God's presence. It also recognizes that despite our feelings of aloneness and abandonment, God is here. God is always present with us even when we have persisted in ignoring his presence.

When we make ourselves mindfully aware of God's presence we realize how intimately he is with us. Note how the writer describes what happens after they cry out to him: "God heard...God remembered...God saw...God knew." I love the past tense of that last one. God knew the situation of the Israelites even before they cried out to him.

It is in the groaning that we make ourselves ready to receive his rescue.

Be Present with God

Make some time to be present with God. Put a name on the thing you feel enslaved to right now. Like the Israelites, cry out to God for help. Don't bargain with God or present to him your plan to get yourself out of your slavery...cry out for his rescue. Ask him to make you aware of his presence in the place you are right now. Ask him to move in his power to rescue you. Ask him to give you the patience and submission to wait for him to work the miracle he has planned for you. Ask him to give you the wisdom and courage to move when he makes the way to freedom.  Thank him for the way he has made you aware of his presence during this time.