Sunday, September 14, 2014

Devotions: Life of Moses Exodus 1:1-2:10

                Studying the life of Moses excites me. Moses’s life was a series of miracles, starting from his birth and leading to his death. He is a man of exemplary faith and deeds, highlighted throughout the Bible for his faith and courage. But Moses was a man, with complaints, and needs, and serious issues. And the best part is, that Moses, inspired by God, wrote down his own story.
                What he wrote down first, is the story of a miracle, the hand of God at work in his life from the very beginning. He is born to a Hebrew family during the worst oppression Egypt has imposed on them, they are throwing all the baby boys into the Nile river. Yet somehow, Moses mother finds the will to resist, to try to save her baby. Maybe she knew of the prophesies where God had promised he would take his people up out of Egypt after 400 years (Genesis 15). Maybe she had planned the whole thing, the basket, the walking path of the Pharaoh’s daughter, what Miriam was to do and say, but it was out of her hands. The pity that the Pharaoh’s daughter had, the Pharaoh’s willingness to let her keep the child, these show the hand of God on Moses’s life.
                God created the circumstances in which a Hebrew boy, condemned to death by the Pharaoh would be saved by his daughter, raised first by his own family, and then by the palace, who would identify more with his own oppressed people rather than the life of luxury he had inherited through the pity of Pharaoh’s daughter.
                From the perspective of Jochebed (Moses’ mother), this must have seemed like the end of the miracle, and she probably thanked God for saving her son. But this was just the beginning. Which makes me wonder – what in my life has God been orchestrating, is still orchestrating that I just can’t see yet? I don’t have the benefit of hindsight to see where God’s hand has been moving to make me exactly who I am meant to be to fulfill his will and purpose for my life. Someday I will, and I hope I can look back at the times where I’ve struggled, or wondered “why is this happening?” and realize that it was God allowing me to grow, or maybe forcing me to grow, so that I could become something greater and fulfill his plans for me.
                God called Moses, raised by the Egyptians, to fight for his people in an Egyptian court. Who else was better equipped among the Hebrews to do God’s will? And we see the hand of God moving, even in the first few chapters of Exodus, the very beginning. God will never leave us, nor forsake us. He is with us morning, noon and night. His hand upholds us. He is the creator of all things and yet he is with us, each and every moment.

What are the plans he has for you? And in what ways do you see that God has used the circumstances in your past to help you become exactly who he wants you to be right now?

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