Jochebed had just given birth to a son. In most cultures, it wouldn’t make a lot of difference whether the baby was a boy or a girl. But to an Israeli mother living in Egypt in the days of the Pharaohs, it meant life or death, for the Pharaoh had ordered that all Israeli newborn boys be thrown into the Nile River.
In that moment Jochebed made a bold decision. She determined to hide her baby. Can you imagine how hard that was? How she must have rushed to pick him up each time he began to cry?
When he was about three months old, she could hide him no longer, and Jochebed made another courageous decision. She placed her precious baby in a basket and hid him among the reeds of the river. After that there was nothing to do but to turn and walk away, leaving Miriam, his sister, to watch and see what happened.
Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the river to bathe, spotted the basket, and sent her servant to get it. When she opened it, the baby was crying, and her heart was touched. Miriam immediately volunteered to find a woman to care for the baby. And Miriam got the one person in the whole world who could best attend to this baby’s needs—his own mother.
The result of Jochebed’s faith and courage is that her son, Moses, grew up to be one of the most recognized individuals in all history. She had faith to keep her baby—and courage to let him go.
Today, too, it takes those two qualities to raise children: faith to bring them up to honor and love the Lord, and courage to put them in God’s hands as they go out on their own into a godless culture.
If you need help as a parent, turn to God. Ask Him to supply the faith and courage you need.
