A New Beginning, Faith, Hope, Uncategorized

Is God with us in our pain?

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Is God with us in our pain?

With trembling hands, she stooped down and placed the basket into the River Nile.

She had taken careful pains to coat the basket with asphalt and pitch so that her beloved baby would be as safe as he could be.

Eyes prickling with tears, her breath sucked out of her.

She bent down and looked tenderly at her baby.

A last lingering kiss she placed on his forehead before closing the basket’s lid.

Will I ever see him again? O God, please have mercy!

 

The flicker of hope she had, growing dimmer and dimmer as the basket floated unsteadily away.

How can YHWH be a promise keeper when He can’t even save my baby from this awful fate?

How can He sit still while evil ravages our people? 

The killing of babies by Pharoah is simply wrong! 

Why?

How can YHWH be a promise keeper
when He can’t even save my baby from this awful fate?

As the basket floated unsteadily down the river, she beckoned, “Go follow that basket and bring back news, Miriam.”

Empty-handed, each step back to the house was a dragging of her feet, willing herself to return to the remainder of her family. A part of her had died at the banks of the River Nile.

 

“Mama, Mama! Come quick! Pharoah’s daughter summons you.”

Pharoah’s daughter? What wrong have I done? Why call for me?

 

Tripping over her steps in a hurry, she followed her daughter’s lead into the courts of Pharoah’s daughter.

“Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.”

Her heart pounding, she wasn’t sure she understood.

There in the arms of Pharoah’s daughter he lay.

Alive. Crying and kicking.

He was placed into her arms. My baby!

The warmth of his body next to hers immediately shushed her fears as he grabbed her finger, recognising her face and scent.

 

Walking home once more, this time carrying her bundle of hope,

she gave Miriam’s shoulder a tight squeeze and looked at her smiling.

Baby brother was back home with them!

Over the dinner table, her parents hung onto every word Miriam spoke as she poured forth the story of the day.

They were astounded.

An absolute miracle.

Gazing at the basket that her baby lay in,

the questions of the day came back to Jochebed, the mother of Moses.

 

YHWH knew all along.

He had provided a way beyond anything I had ever expected or dared to dream.

Not just was my baby home with me, nursing on my bosom,

YHWH had provided wages for our family when we barely had much to survive on.

My son whom I thought I had lost was found and I would get to see him grow up.

O, thanks be to God Almighty who looks on the weak with mercy.

Your love endures forever.

O, thanks be to God Almighty who looks on the weak with mercy.
Your love endures forever.

 

As a mother myself, this story from Exodus (2:1–10) of Jochebed’s courage and love to save her baby from an infanticide that was wrong has always touched me. Jochebed (we know her name from Exodus 6:20) kept Moses hidden for as long as she could, then made a best attempt to save him through creating a waterproof basket. (Sometimes, I wonder if she was trying to find a way to appear like she was abiding by Pharoah’s law of casting babies into River Nile.) I believe God saw Jochebed’s faith and heard her cries. 

 

The Hebrew midwives of the time also refused to obey Pharoah’s law of killing the Hebrews’ newborn boys. They were honoured by God (Exodus 1:15–21). In the same way, God had mercy on Jochebed and had a plan of redemption already in the works through the baby Moses.

God saw Jochebed’s faith and heard her cries.

I wonder if any of us are facing such situations in our lives today that require us to make a stand, to have courage and to let go, believing by faith that God will redeem and restore according to His good purposes.

 

May this story of Jochebed encourage your heart. God knows and He is working even when we don’t see or understand the whole picture. God hears your cries and feels your pain. It’s okay to be real with God and lament. It’s okay to tell God how you really feel. He can take your pain and He will hold you fast. May we see God working in our lives and trusting Him through our pain.

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