By Christy Cox
“And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the Lord.’”

So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.                                                               (Exodus 6:5-9)

God heard the Israelites groaning from the agonies of their lives. They cried out for God to intervene and change the situations in their life that caused them perpetual pain and their specific cry was for freedom from oppression and bondage.


By Christy Cox
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

“And it shall be, in that day,” says the Lord, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ ‘And no longer call Me ‘My Master’… 

 “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me
in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.                                                                       
(Hosea 2:14-16, 19-20)

Father, Your great love for us is so deep and You wish for us to experience that love. You draw us and allure us, Your daughters towards You. And how do You do it? “Behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.” Strangely, by bringing us into the wilderness. A place of sorrow, pain and suffering; and as we cry out in our anguish in that place – You also promise to speak comfort and hope to us. Right there in our darkest moments, You reveal Yourself.