A Basket Case

Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it. She opened it, and saw the child, and, behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?" Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." The young woman went and called the child's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." The woman took the child, and nursed it. Exodus 2:4'9 WEB.

Jochebed gently placed her three-month-old son Moses into a basket and launched him into the river. She knew that if she tried to keep him, he would be discovered and killed. If there was ever an accidental birth with bad timing, Moses was it. During that time, Pharaoh had ordered that all newborn male Hebrew children be thrown into the Nile River. They became food for the crocodiles.

So Mose's mother came up with a plan to place her son in the Nile river as Pharaoh commanded but use a basket. I guess Pharaoh wasn't specific about the details. The crazy scheme was actually inspired by the Holy Spirit, and she obeyed. She put Moses in a floating basket, set him in the water, and let him go.

The baby Moses was soon found floating in the Nile by Pharaoh's daughter. His mother, Jochebed, was summoned, and they paid her wages to nurse her own son. So instead of Moses being killed, he was raised and educated by the Egyptian royal family. In his mother's greatest dreams, she wouldn't have thought this was possible for her son.

Jochebed loved her child, but she had to let him go, and God took care of him better than she ever could have. God gave Moses a college education and made him a great prophet. Moses became the most powerful man on Earth and, yet, the most humble. Any mother would have been proud to have a son like Moses, for he turned out well.

There are no accidental births in the Kingdom of God. You are not an accident any more than Moses floating down the Nile River. If you are fortunate enough to be pregnant, the child that you carry was given to you by God. He can go beyond your greatest dreams if you will only obey His gentle promptings along the way. He can turn the weak and humble into a force to be reckoned with. He can make a way when there appears to be no way.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Your word tells us that Your sheep hear Your voice (John 10:27). I pray that You teach me to listen to Your voice better. Please guide me, teach me, mold me. Come into my heart and lead me into all that you have for me today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

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