And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; (Exodus 3:7-8, KJV)

I want to speak to you in a new way from Exodus 3. Moses has met the Lord, you know how the Lord called to him out of the midst of the burning bush, saying, “Surely I have seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows – and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians...” Sometimes we forget what kind of situation God’s people were in; to put it bluntly they were slaves!

But what God is saying touches me: “I have seen the suffering of My people and I am come to deliver them!” And that is exactly what happened – although, because of their lack of faith and their disobedience in the wilderness and the negative reports of the ten spies, it took the nation of Israel 40 years of wandering round the desert before they finally came into the Promised Land… But God always keeps His Promise!

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. (Romans 8:18-19, NLT)

We all suffer affliction. But it is nothing compared to the Glory that will be ours, because we have a coming Kingdom! God says, 'I will be with you; through all the suffering, all the pain.'