Bible Parents —The Resourceful One

Exodus 2:1-4 (NIV)

Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Hebrews 11:23 (NIV)
By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

'Jochebed' doesn't look or sound the most attractive girl's name, but its meaning is lovely: 'Yahweh (God) is glory.' And Jochebed needed to hold tight to that truth when she gave birth to her first son. Circumstances around a child's birth can be fraught but these were off the scale. The King (Pharaoh), worried about the growing population of Jewish immigrants, had ordered all new-born boys to be drowned in the River Nile.

For three perilous months, trusting God, Jochebed kept her beautiful baby hidden at home. But it was getting ever more difficult, and finally she resorted to desperate measures. Crafting and waterproofing a small papyrus carrycot, she placed the baby in it, hurried to the water's edge and hid the cot among reeds, leaving the baby's sister, Miriam, to watch over it.

What did Jochebed think would happen next? Trusting God, perhaps she thought she could leave him there for some time, visiting him to nurse and tend him and then bring him home when Pharaoh stopped his murderous crimes.  

Whatever her plan, God's plan was bigger.

We know Pharaoh's daughter found the cot, fell in love with the gorgeous child, and decided to keep him. And quick-witted Miriam proposed her mother as the wetnurse - which the Princess not only accepted, but paid Jochebed a salary to look after him in his own home! Later the Princess would adopt him and name him Moses (Pulled Out) but Moses always knew who his real mother and family were. 

And God's plan was bigger still.

Brave and loving Jochebed trusted God to deliver her son from danger. God provided beyond her wildest imagination. What she didn't know was, one day, under God's authority, Moses would deliver all his people from the tyranny of Egypt. 

GOD'S PLANS ARE BIGGER THAN OURS.

Prayer - Lord, when I face trouble and need rescuing, help me to trust that you are not just the Great Rescuer but that your plans are so much greater and better than mine.