NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

May 8 - How did they do it?

Scripture focus: By an act of faith, Moses' parents hid him away for three months after his birth. They saw the child's beauty, and they braved the king's decree. Hebrews 11:23 (The Message)

The prayer of the heart challenges us to hide absolutely nothing from God and to surrender ourselves unconditionally to his mercy. Thus the prayer of the heart is the prayer of truth.

Henri Nouwen

Once Joseph was but a distant memory in the mind of the new king of Egypt, the trouble started for the Israelites. After several failed attempts to oppress the Israelites, Pharaoh gives the order to throw every Hebrew boy into the Nile. One mother couldn't bear to throw away her boy and made the decision to defy the king's decree. Placing him in a waterproof basket, she lowers the child among the reeds along the river's bank. Moses' parents provide us with some helpful clues to sustain us during times of oppression.

1. They accepted the current situation with hope. They knew the king's decree, but refused to bow to the seeming inevitability of the circumstances.
2. They trusted God to deliver and planned accordingly.
3. They assumed responsibility for their part and trusted God with the outcome.
   

I love this story. It illustrates the delicate balance of trusting God and taking responsibility for our part. These parents obviously are relying on the grace of God, but it not a presumptuous grace. Instead, they accept responsibility for their own life and refuse to waste time playing the blame game. I'm sure many Hebrew families sat helplessly by as their sons were tossed into the Nile. Perhaps they assumed they were powerless victims under the dominion of a ruthless king. And they were right! In many ways they were powerless. But on the day that Moses was born, his family decided to acknowledge their powerlessness without accepting defeat. They took responsibility for their situation and as a result, many were ultimately saved.

Grace is the spoonful of sugar that makes the hard truths bearable. Grace allows for the fact that a bad situation might get worse, but God is with us and he is mighty to save. How that saving looks may not always turn out the way we wish. But regardless of the outcome, we must take responsibility for our part.

Skill set #4: Take responsibility for our own life and refuse to blame others.

Recommended reading: Deuteronomy 1 - 3

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