Mid-autumn and a short reflection

By a twist of grace, I received permission to submit my Doctrine of God and Children major paper in December (and after graduation too), rather than at the end of this month. I was also allowed to write an academic paper on the subject of my proposal - rather than do that strange-ish experiment per original course requirements, which I would have no idea how to initiate.

*Breathes a sigh of utter relief*

Thank you, Dr. S.

Well, I can begin on my Old Testament theology paper now. Hurray! (God must have known that I can only focus on one big paper at a time.)

*Looks around wildly only to realise that I had left my OT theology file of papers in my car - parked a long walk away from my flat*

Oh well. Looks like it will be an early night for me today.

Reading through the Book of Exodus in the past few days, I have been constantly amazed by the themes that emerge from the events it records. What truly tugged at my heartstrings today was Exodus 2:23-25:

"...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...." (ESV)

Also Exodus 3:7-10, when God speaks to Moses via the burning bush:

"...Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt..."" (ESV)

God remembered His covenant and He was faithful. He is a covenant-keeping God. What comfort it brings to my heart to be reminded of the fact that I am a child of the New Covenant - the redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because God remembers His covenant, hope is certain for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. Hope despite our deadliest troubles. The hope of knowing the Christ who loves us, a little more in our sufferings. The hope of knowing that God forgives the penitent. The hope of God glorifying Himself (somehow) and helping us when we can do nothing to help ourselves. The hope of Romans 8:28. The hope of sonship - and the gracious benefits it entitles us to. The hope of Christ's own gracious intercession for us. The hope of an eternal rest.

We may look forward in our pain and struggles.