Week 22: Day 3

Intro: Hello and welcome back to Orbit, a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life from the team behind Satellites - I'm Liz Grier. Every day I share a little bit of the Bible with you, give you a chance to pray and think about it, and provide you with one practical way to put it into practice today.

Bible: Yesterday we left the nation of Israel in a terrifying situation. You might think that the brutal conditions of their slavery, and the terrible command to kill all baby boys would be a powerful disincentive to getting married. And yet Exodus chapter two starts with just that, a wedding and a baby and that’s where we pick the story up at Exodus 2:3-8

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.

Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river-bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?’

‘Yes, go,’ she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.

Thoughts: That baby was Moses. With delightful irony, Moses’ mum is paid to nurse him by the daughter of the one who wanted him dead. The very thing that was supposed to take his life, the Nile, actually saved him. When he was slightly older, he was adopted and Pharaoh had a Hebrew child growing up in his palace. He was adopted as a son. He was a Prince of Egypt.

But you need to remember as you read this story that although we may know how the story turns out, that it has a happy ending, Moses’ mum really didn’t as she casts him into the Nile. Interestingly the story doesn't tell us anything about how his Mum felt as she left her baby to the mercy of the Nile and the crocodiles. I imagine her heart was breaking as she made him a basket to float in. And then cast him into the Nile. Maybe she knew that Pharaoh’s daughter washed there and was hoping that he would be found. Perhaps she had lost all faith and hope, and she just couldn't bear to watch her child die. Perhaps she was hiding him hoping to return to feed him in secret.

Whatever she was thinking she was giving him the slimmest chance possible. She was a brave woman to defy this cruel Pharoah. And then we meet two more brave women. Moses’ sister who stands and watches, and Pharoah’s daughter who defies her own father, her own upbringing, to save this baby. She came from a savage and cruel family and must have known she was defying her own father when she chose to protect this baby.

So what does this story have to say to us today? Well I don’t have to tell you bad stuff still happens. We live in a broken world where there is still suffering and pain, and although God promises that one day there will be no more crying and no more tears, we are not there, yet. Sometimes the Christian life is not about stopping the outside pressing in, but having inner strength and the assurance that God promises to be with us. God promises that he will never leave us, and sometimes we need to choose to believe that promise, even when we feel all alone. Sometimes the way God works can feel very ordinary. Yesterday and today God’s work was done through five very ordinary yet brave women who between them changed the course of history.

Prayer: Thank you Father that you never leave us. That we are your children. You promise us if we walk through fire we will not be burned, and if we pass through waters we will not be overwhelmed. Help us know your presence with us every day, when life is good and when life is tough. Amen

Action: Every day on Orbit we give you a simple practical challenge to help you put the passage into action in your life. So today I want you to:

Today I want you to pray about the week ahead and ask God if there is one thing that he would like you to do. It might be really ordinary. A simple act of kindness to someone you know or a stranger. Or something bigger that he places on your heart. When you think of something write it down. You might think that what you get is too small, that it won’t make a difference. But small things can mean more than you can ever imagine. Or it may be big. Whatever it is, just be brave, and just be you.

Outro: And that's it! Thanks so much for joining me and I’ll be back with another reflection tomorrow.