Courageous Acts!

In Exodus 2 we read about Jochebed, the mother of Moses, dealing with a law that if any baby boy was born, it would be tossed in the Nile.
 
“But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River.  The baby’s sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.”
 
Can you imagine this mother’s fears and hopes colliding as she prayed that God would keep this boy safe, and place him in the hands of a trustworthy Egyptian woman that would care for Moses.
 
Just ask a mom how difficult it is to let her child sleep in their crib in another room alone, or go for that first bike ride on their own. Ask her if she cried when her child left the house on that first sleepover, or the first day of school.   Ask my wife how she was on Collin’s first day at college!
 
Moses is just three months old and this mom has to let her son float in a river, so that he would not be drowned in the river by the soldiers!
 
Here is where we meet Miriam, the unlikely hero. A young girl and the daughter of slaves. We don’t know exactly how old Miriam was at the time, yet God used her in a crucial way to accomplish His perfect purpose for her brother, and ultimately for the nation of Israel.
 
Miriam is given the incredible responsibility to watch her baby brother as he floated in the Nile.  Most likely positioned in a place for discovery, it happened. A princess found baby Moses. We read that Miriam approached the princess after she discovered the crying Moses in the Nile.
 
Then the baby’s sister approached the princess. “Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked.  “Yes, do!” the princess replied. So the girl went and called the baby’s mother.  “Take this baby and nurse him for me,” the princess told the baby’s mother. “I will pay you for your help.” So the woman took her baby home and nursed him.  Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses, for she explained, “I lifted him out of the water.”
 
Miriam’s courage led to Moses’s mother being paid to raise their own son! She could do so at home, and without any fear of the Egyptian authorities! What an incredible turn of events – in which only God could orchestrate!
 
This simple story reveals so much about the courage to trust God!
 
Like Jochebed, do you trust God to take care of your children?
Like Jochebed, do you trust God that your children are capable of great things?
Like Miriam are you courageous enough to handle a large responsibility?
Like Miriam, are you courageous enough to step up and speak?

With courage, stand today and be mighty for God.  A simple act of caring for a child may be mightier than you think.
 
See you all Sunday!
 

Pastor Rex