Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Exodus 2:23-24 (NLT)

He remembered His covenant promise. Do you think that God—the God who knows everything—really forgot His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Do you think that God required a reminder? “Oh, shoot! I totally forgot about them. I was so busy doing my own thing somewhere else.”

I don’t think so.

So why did Israel have to cry out?

My youngest niece is three. She’s the cutest little thing. But sometimes she gets it into her head that she’s not going to talk. She’ll gesture and grunt, but refuse to speak. Can she speak? Sure, there are times when you can’t get her to stop talking. But when she wants or needs something, she needs to ask for it, not point and grunt.

I think God is the same way with us sometimes. He knows what we need. He’s never ignorant of that. But He wants us to ask. He knew what He’d promised to Israel, but He wanted them to remember what He’d promised.

This is one of the reasons that, when I teach Bible study, I put stress on learning the “In Him” scriptures. Learn what God has said about you and to you. Know who you are in Him so that, when you’re going through a rough time, you can remember and say, “Hey God, you said you’d be here. You promised me healing. You promised me comfort.”

He doesn’t need the reminder. We do.

Daily Bible reading: Exodus 1-3, Matthew 15:21-39