When You Wonder if God is Concerned About You

Sharon JaynesConfidence in Christ, God's love, Take Hold of the Faith You Long For, Trusting God 16 Comments

Have you ever felt like God has forgotten you? I know I have. When my husband and I lost our second child, I felt like God was far away, and didn’t see what I was going through. It was a wilderness time, and I felt very alone.

In Exodus 3, Moses was on the far side of the wilderness—literally and figuratively. But then God spoke to him through the burning bush. Moses had failed in Egypt and bailed to Midian. Yep, failed and bailed. He ran away to the wilderness where he stayed for the next forty years.

And friend, sometimes it is only on the far side of the wilderness where God can get our attention. Sometimes it is when we feel alone, abandoned, and forgotten that our ears are pricked to hear. Isolation is often God’s place of invitation.

Moses had that same experience. Let’s join him in the desert.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am” (Exod. 3:1–4).

Let’s hit the pause button for a second. Here’s something interesting about this encounter.  When God spoke, He didn’t speak through a fragrant rose bush, a blooming rhododendron, or a genteel hydrangea. God spoke through a prickly, gnarly, thorny, dried-up old desert tumbleweedish shrub. Oh yes, when God chooses to speak through something or someone, any old bush will do. I don’t know about you, but that gives me great hope!

Did you notice when God began to speak? “When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look.” When God saw that He had Moses’ attention, He began to speak. I wonder how many times I’ve missed God’s gentle whisper and tender tug because I wasn’t paying attention. How many times has God tried to speak to me, but I was too busy being busy to notice? Moses turned aside. God spoke.

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them (Exod. 3:3-9, emphasis added).

This was sounding good to Moses! (And it sounds good to me!)

God sees!

God hears!

God is concerned!

God will rescue!

This is an amazing story, and we’re going to stop right here.

No matter what you’re going through today. Even if you have failed and bailed like Moses had, even if you’ve experienced a great loss and feel you are somewhere on the backside of the wilderness like Moses was, God sees you. God hears you. God is concerned. And God will rescue.

Perhaps He is waiting for you to turn aside. To see the burning bushes in your own backyard.

Make no mistake about it. He has not left you. Never has. Never will. He speaks to us and waits for us to turn aside and listen.

Heavenly Father, thank You for never giving up on me, even when I give up on myself. Thank You for seeing me, for hearing me, for being concerned about me, and for rescuing me. Thank You for proving that by sending Your Son, Jesus, just for me. In His Name, Amen.

What is one way that God has shown you that He sees you, hears you, and is concerned about you? Leave a comment and let’s share. (It could be the fact that this blog showed up in your inbox today.)

Take Hold of the Faith You Long ForToday’s devotion was taken from my book, Take Hold of the Faith You Long For: Let Go, Move Forward, Live Bold. No matter what you have gone through in the past or are going through in the present, God has great plans for you. In the pages of Take Hold, you’ll learn how to let go of the pain, move forward in God’s power and provision, and live bold in the present. You’ll discover how to get unstuck from a mediocre, lukewarm faith to take hold of the faith you’ve always long for.

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Comments 16

  1. When I have no idea how my bills are going to paid on time, God always shows up! Last month we had 3 bills (car payment, car insurance, and house payment) that were going to be coming out of our bank account the next day and I had no idea where the money was going to come from but God provided! That proves God saw me, heard me, was concerned and rescued me!

  2. This email for me is a word in season! i have been going through a rough patch financially since my divorce and have had to move in with my parents…..am pleased to know that God sees me, knows all my concerns and He WILL rescue me!

  3. I was in a very lonely season where I was newly divorced and lost most of my family (hubby family) from that. The good paying job I had for more than 10 years, God called me to trust him and quit when several sexual abuse situations arose against my boss. I lost my co-workers/friends. I was lonely. One day I went into Payless Shoe store to look for shoes for my 5 y/o son and a young woman came up and started a conversation with me. It was a pleasant talk and I then thought why is she here talking to me? What does she want from me? Throughout the talk, she stated she did not have children and l realized to myself while buying the shoes “why was this lady in the kid shoes talking to me,” “she must be trying to sell something to me or get my phone number” but I had this incredible feeling inside that wasn’t the case as she smiled at me until I left the store never asking me for a thing. I went to my car and just sat there with this immense overwhelming feeling that I just had an encounter with an angel from God. He knew I was lonely and wanted me to keep following his voice. A year or so later through another long story, he reunited me with a BFF I had a falling out with about 5+ years earlier and we have been BFF’s ever since. God lead me to friends in other ways too.

  4. It was a looonnnngggg 16 years before we had our son. We also just lost our granddaughter 2 weeks before she was dew to join us. Those were probably the hardest wilderness experiences I have gone through but through them all God has been faithful to lead us through. I know that He will always be there for me.

  5. God showed up in my hospital room. I’d been told I’d only live if I had open heart surgery to clear blockages. I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit whisper, “don’t do it. Wait for another resolution.”
    I did. The entire cardio dept was aghast. They all said “you will die. What’s wrong with you?” The cardiologist came to my room and said, “well, since you’re being so stubborn…I’ve agreed to attempt to try placing 4 stents into your coronary arteries, which may not work.” He did. Bit worked! (Almost 2 yrs ago.) I was in the wilderness with no options except one I felt might kill me! Another option presented itself and here I am! I HEARD God speak that day!

  6. Sometimes work on the mission field gets overwhelming, exhausting and honestly, sometimes wears down my faith, especially when it seems Prayers go unanswered for days, months and even years. But, when God shows up, it is mightily and His timing is perfect. Thanks for this reminder that God is always watching, patiently waiting for us to see His burning burn and that his concern is enduring.

  7. For sure God sees, listens and hears. Having been out of employment for months now, sometimes my prayer is for Jesus to give understanding and patience to the Landlady and sure Jesus has been faithful. I know He will speak over my situation the same way He manages to calm my landlady.

    This article is just in time to strengthen me

  8. This is so affirming!! Thank you. He is the God of all my days. I love how the voice Moses heard resounds what Hagar heard, when all alone….the God who sees me! So powerful! In our loneliness, on the backside of our wilderness…..he is God of all our days, He is the good shepherd leading us, and he leads us along right paths, bringing homie to his name. Thank you Father for this truth!!

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