After being informed of a 911 call from a concerned citizen, a police officer drove alongside the train tracks, shining his floodlight into the dark until he spotted the vehicle straddling the iron rails. The trooper’s dashboard camera captured the harrowing scene as a train barreled toward the car. “That train was coming fast,” the officer said, “Fifty to eighty miles per hour.” Acting without hesitation, he pulled an unconscious man from the car mere seconds before the train slammed into it.

Scripture reveals God as the One who rescues—often precisely when all seems lost. Trapped in Egypt and withering under suffocating oppression, the Israelites imagined no possibility for escape. In Exodus, however, we find God offering them words resounding with hope: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt,” He said. “I have heard them crying out . . . and I am concerned about their suffering” (3:7). And God not only saw—God acted. “I have come down to rescue them” (v. 8). God led Israel out of bondage. This was a divine rescue.

God’s rescue of Israel reveals God’s heart—and His power—to help all of us who are in need. He assists those of us who are destined for ruin unless God arrives to save us. Though our situation may be dire or impossible, we can lift our eyes and heart and watch for the One who loves to rescue.

By Winn Collier

God, I’m in real trouble, and if You don’t help me, I don’t see a good ending. Will You help me? Will You rescue me?

Where does all seem lost and where do you need God’s rescue? How can you turn your hope to Him in this dire place?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

The book of Exodus describes the culmination of the Israelites’ time in Egypt. They’d been in the land for 430 years (Exodus 12:40) and had become so numerous that the Egyptians decided to treat them harshly to prevent their numbers from increasing (1:6-10). God had made a promise to Abraham to bring his descendants to the land of Canaan (Genesis 15:13-16; 17:8)—“a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:17)—and God always keeps His promises. When He appeared to Moses in the burning bush in chapter 3, it was part of His plan unfolding. However, Pharaoh wouldn’t allow the Israelites to go. Chapter 12 describes their final release, but they continued to face many challenges that left them wandering in the wilderness until they finally reached the promised land (see Joshua 3-4).