It reads so simple. It all sounds so clean. The plan is clear. The outcome is promised. And yet, I’ve read this story a few times. I know what’s coming. I know how this is going to play out. And let’s just say, it’s not a straight line.

It’s been a long time coming. The oppression has been happening for a long time. The crying out to heaven has been happening for a long time. The preparation of a deliverer has been happening for a long time.

But now, Moses is on the doorstep of all that changing. Actually, he’s barefoot and on holy ground. And he hears the plan.

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 up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

(Exodus 3:7-8a ESV)

I’ve seen the affliction, says the LORD of Hosts. I’ve heard the cries. I know the suffering. I have come down to deliver. I’m getting directly involved.

Yes! Amen! Finally!

Goodbye Egypt! Hello land flowing with milk and honey.

Clear. Simple. Easy. If God is for us, who can stand against us? Let’s go! We’re outta here!

But if you know what’s coming, while the plan might be clear, it will be anything but simple and easy. While their prayers and pleadings will be answered, the pathway will come with new problems and pressures. While God’s promise is sure, the people will be fraught repeatedly with questions. That’s kind of how deliverance goes. Often that’s how answered prayer goes. It’s not a straight line.

And so, we walk by faith. Believing in the future, trusting in the moment, even as we dodge (not always) what’s being thrown at us along the way.

For my family, this last week’s been a roller-coaster. Looks like we’re ending up where we should, but we weren’t expecting the ride, nor anticipating the turns it took. Repeatedly, just when we thought there was clarity, there was more confusion. Just when we started feeling some peace, there arose another reason to panic. Not a straight line.

But God is faithful. He knows the plan. And we can rest (try to rest) knowing that the plan is always in line with the promise. The promise of being conformed into the likeness of His Son (Rom. 8:29). The promise of “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1Peter 1:4).

But it’s not a straight line. From here to there, we can expect “‘various trials” to test the “genuineness of our faith” (1Peter 1:6-7a).

And in this, God sees. God hears. God knows. And God has come down to deliver.

With ever-present, over-flowing, abundant grace.

That it might “be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1Peter 1:7b).

Amen?