Monday, April 1, 2013

Baby Tears Saved a Nation


When the princess opened it, (basket) she saw the baby.  The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him.  ”This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said.             (Exodus 2:6 NLT)
            The king’s edict said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is daughter, then she shall live”  (Exo. 2:16).
            The boy babies were sentenced to death.  Why?  Because the king feared the increasing Jewish population growth.  The “fly in the ointment” so to speak was that the midwives feared God more than they did the king and refused to kill the boy babies.  (Exo. 2:17)  What a brave and courageous group of women!
            Many of our missionaries who are serving in countries where their location and names cannot be mentioned for fear of death are following the same principle.  They are adhering to the example of the Apostle Peter and the disciples who said, “We must obey God rather than men”  (Acts 5:29).
 I find the birth of Moses an intriguing account for several reasons:
1.     It took tremendous faith and courage for Amram and Jochebed to have marital relations during that dangerous time when Jewish baby boys were subject to death.
2.     They saw that the baby was no ordinary child (Acts 7:20 NIV).  God gave them a special insight into his divine purpose for the child. 
3.     Jochebed obeyed the letter of the law by putting the baby in the Nile, but trusted in the providence of God in the way she did it. 
4.     The oldest child, Miriam, was dispatched to watch over the baby with instructions to intervene should he be found.  They were well aware that the Princess came down to do her daily ablutions and trusted God to spare the child.
5.     The Princess found the basket and heard the baby cry and saw his tears.  God used a baby’s tears to control the heart of a powerful Princess, and he used Miriam’s words to arrange for the baby’s mother to raise the boy, and get paid for it. 
Don’t you just love this story?  Can’t you just see God’s hand in every detail?  Who would be better able to raise the boy and instill within him a love for God than his godly parents? 
A Baby ’s tears were God’s first weapons in his war with Egypt. 
There’s a lot of recalculating going on from the time Moses lay in a wicker basket in the Nile to the time he became a prince in Egypt, and later when he took over the reins of deliverer to God’s people – Israel. 
I can look back over my life and see how many times God said, RECALCULATE – change direction.  That’s what my book: God’s Unfolding Plan is all about. 
Thought for the Day: God wants us to take time to recalculate on occasion.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I thank you for the times when you caused me to recalculate and change directions to get in line with your will and purpose.

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