"[Moses'] sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him."
Around 1450 to 1410 B.C., the Hebrew people were enslaved by the Egyptians. At the end of Chapter 1 of Exodus, Pharaoh had made the declaration that there were too many Hebrew babies being born, he was fearful that they would be too numerous to control. To prevent a future rebellion, he ordered all the Hebrew baby boys to be killed.
"Then Pharoah gave this order to all his people: 'Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live." (Exodus 1:22)
It was in this frightening time that Moses was born. There must have been so much prayer in that house. After 3 months, his mother secured Moses in a basket, and placed him in the Nile river (irony, lest you escape me); while his older sister, Miriam, watched over him.
How did Miriam feel while all this was going on? I can only imagine. 'This world is so unfair! God, why? God, protect my brother! What are you going to do, Lord? God, show me what to do! '
I relate to Miriam, not only do I watch, pray, and wait to see what God is going to do in my younger brother's life and sister's life, but in other friends and family members, and in my own life as well.
This can feel discouraging at times, and I feel pretty helpless. But I watch. I pray. I wait. And at times, God will guide me to action when the time is right, when the time is right, His time, not my time.
At the exact, right time, Miriam boldly approaches the Pharoah's daughter to provide practical compassion.
"Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?'" (Exodus 2:7)
Essentially, 'not me,' she says, ' someone else.'
Not me. Someone else:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
"[Jesus answered].... but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14)
Aubrey, I am praying for you and your friends at SCAD. Yes, I am watching and praying and waiting, other loved ones, friends and family. I love to pray for you!
I trust God because I know He never forgets us.
Exodus 2:24
"God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob."
He never forgets about you.
Haley, I love you! Thank you so much for your prayers and your love. I'm so lucky to have you as a sister.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you illustrated this with Mariam (The Lurker... haha, that made me laugh). I have a couple friends in particular that come to mind who I want so badly to feel the power of God's love and grace, but I have to let go of control. I have to realize that I can't be everything to everyone; I have to step back from them and take care of things in my life, and only they can open themselves up to God. I have to pray that they'll be open and maybe someone else will step in to help them make way for Jesus, but I can't be the one responsible for that. I know that's not entirely what you're talking about here, but I think it's relevant, and Mariam is kind of an example in that regard. Anyway... thank you for this post. It's encouraging and I think I'll show it to my Bible study girls! So they know another someone is praying for them :] We pray for you, too!
Love you, sister!
Aubrey