Exodus-“The story of God’s presence “
Part 2
“Trusting God in the hard times”
Exodus 2:1-10
As we continue with our study of Exodus this morning
I think before we can go forward
We must
Go back, for just a minuet
Last week in our sermon
We studied about how God’s chosen people had gone from freedom to slavery
We looked at who was to blame for this mess’ and prayerfully we now have a better understanding of God’s part and his plan
In our round pen bible study last week we studied about Pharaohs plans and ideas of how things should go
And how we must follow God’s law even when it goes against man’s law
And that when we do this even though we are not free from worldly punishment
We will receive eternal rewards for our obedience
Exodus 1 shows us that God does indeed have a plan
And that when we obey him and follow him
We receive blessings
Exodus 2 begins the process of showing us the plan
Let me read for you Exodus chapter 2
Verses 1:10
About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. 4 The baby’s sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.
5 Soon Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe in the river, and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. 6 When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said.
7 Then the baby’s sister approached the princess. “Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked.
8 “Yes, do!” the princess replied. So the girl went and called the baby’s mother.
9 “Take this baby and nurse him for me,” the princess told the baby’s mother. “I will pay you for your help.” So the woman took her baby home and nursed him.
10 Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses,[a] for she explained, “I lifted him out of the water.”
Just for a moment
This morning
I want you to step outside of yourself
Put yourself in the shoes of the woman from this story
Allow yourself to feel the pain, the fear, the despair and the joy of a great woman in the bible
Her name is Jochebed- probably not going to make the 2016 list of favorite baby names
But it is her name
She was married to a man named Amram- once again not likely to be included that list
They were Levites
This means they were descendents of Jacob’s son Levi
And they were set aside to be the priests
Jochebed is pregnant with her third child
She already has an older daughter Miriam who we will learn much more about later and who also plays a part in today’s story
And an older son named Aaron who will also come to know better in the weeks to come
He also is a son who ironically would have been killed at birth had it not been for the midwives faith in following God and refusing to follow Pharaohs orders
The times that she lived in were tough
I would say way past tough
Her people had been forced into slavery
Their freedom had been removed
Their way of life destroyed
The conditions had increased severely over the years
But
Still
In spite of the oppression
The Hebrew people multiplied and grew in numbers and in strength
So the Pharaoh
And evil man
Made a plan to stop this growth
He issued orders to the midwives to have boy babies killed at birth
When this plan failed- as we know man’s plans cannot stop God’s plan
He issued an order for as new plan
He made a law
For all newborn Hebrew boy babies to be thrown into the Nile river
Imagine with me the emotions that must be filling the head of this woman
Excitement about the possibility of bringing another life into the world
But fear and anxiety also
Disappointment about how these were going
Waiting
Would it be a girl, oh I pray it will be
Or a boy—Lord please
Waiting
Waiting
And then
After 9 months
The baby arrives
And it is a boy
Mixed emotions suddenly surface
Joy is here
But with it comes fear
Anxiety
A sense of doom and dread
All babies are precious
But she sees that he is a special baby
There is no evidence that God revealed his to her
That he showed her the future
But
Mommas just seem to know
She knew he was a special child
With a special purpose
And now we have a big problem
The law
Pharaoh’s law
Man’s law
Says that this child
This special child is to be thrown into the River
Killed
Discarded like trash
But this is not something that she could wrap her brain around
Not something she could even imagine
So she broke the law and hid him
Imagine with me what she must have felt
What if someone sees?
What if someone tells?
What will happen to us?
What will happen to him?
Living with the seemingly hopelessness of the whole situation searching for answers
By law she was supposed to get rid of this child
But in her love she could not
Keeping him hidden would only delay the inevitable- she knew could not keep him hidden forever
It was just a matter of time
And
What if?
What if by sheer luck?
She managed to keep him hidden
What kind of life would he live?
Slavery
Oppression
Seclusion
She was at a cross roads
We often face cross roads as well in our own lives
Moses ‘
Mom and family
Went against what seems like common sense
Against their own desires
Their wants
And
They placed the baby into the Nile
Not to kill him as Pharaoh had ordered
Not as he had planned
But to save him
They placed him in a basket
Gave him to God
And God intervened in the rest of the story
This morning I want us to focus on just exactly what Jochebed placed into that basket
It was much more than a baby boy
Much more than just her child
Much more than a child who will come to known as Moses
Jochebed placed not only this small child into that waterproof basket
She placed her fears into the basket
She placed her fear for the future
Her fear from the present
Her fears from her past
By placing that baby in that little boat
She is saying
God I’m scared
I’m afraid
But God
I trust you
But I trust you God
These are hard times
These are tough times
And God I can’t see the good in this
I don’t get it
But
Here we go
Here’s my fear
She placed all of her fear into that little basket and gave it to God
She also place her own desires in that basket
She had tried to do this her way
She hid him
I am sure she considered running off
She knew what she wanted
She wanted her baby
She wanted him to be safe
She wanted him to grow up and live a healthy happy life
She wanted to spend her live loving this child
Raising this child
Teaching this child
Being a mother to her baby
But in her plan
And in here desire
She could not see a happy ending
So she put herself aside
She put her selfishness aside
And
Placed him in the basket
She gave him to God
And in doing so gave herself to God
She also placed her faith into that little tar covered basket right along with her baby
I can imagine her crying out
“God I don’t understand how you are going to fix this”
“I don’t see the ending”
“God I hurt”
“God, Please”
But
But
God
I trust you
I know you have a plan; I don’t know what it is
But
I know you are in charge
I know you have got this
So
Here
Here God
Take over
You drive
“I give it all to you”
She also put in her disappointments
She put in her disappointment about how her life was going
This is not what I was expecting God
This is not what how I thought I would be living
Not how I thought my life would God
Disappointments with the past
Disappoints with the future
Disappointments with herself
But she put them in the basket
And she also put her trust in the basket right along with the baby
Trust
Trust to know that the God of the mountain is the God of the valley
Trust to know that the God of the Good times is still God in the hard times
That The God of the day is still God in the dark
You see when we face fears and we all do
And we hang onto those fears
We let them control us
Subdue us
Place us into the same slavery that the Israelite were living in
Fears about the future
Fears about the past
Fears about today
What will happen?
Fear can enslave us
Hobble us
Stop our forward motion
And fear can become a sin in our lives
The bible tells us not to fear
It tells us to give all fear to him
And that as believers we do not have to fear
God’s word tells When we give them to God he calms our fears
Makes them disappear
Like the mist in the morning
I encourage you to put your fear in a basket and give it to God
We all have an idea of how we want our story to end
We all have desires
I’m sure in her hopes and dreams Jachobed saw herself at Moses Birthday parties
At his graduation
At his wedding
She saw herself in the picture with the grandkids
Had she insisted on her own way
She would have got in the way
You see
When we have our own desires and try to do things our own way and we all do
We also often just get in the way of God’s plan
But when we put ourselves aside
When we allow God to take control
Allow he to be the Lord of our lives
His plan marches on
And we get to be part of his plan
Disappoints of this life can cripple us
What if
What if
If I had only done—
If I had only---
God is not disappointed with us
So we should not allow disappointment to control us
When we place all of our faith and our trust in God
Not just in the easy times
Not Just in the good times
Even in
No especially in the hard times
He sees our faith
Feels our trust
And he blesses us
You see by placing the baby in the basket
Moses’ mother allowed God to work in her life
She allowed God to work in the baby’s life
She allowed God to work in all of the people of Israel
She allowed God to work in our lives
You see by giving it all to God
By placing it all in the basket and trusting him with the outcome
She got the blessing God had for her
She got to be a part of her child’s life
Instead of his death
She got to play a part
In God’s plan
And because of her part
His plan of deliverance
His plan of redemption
His plan of salvation
Marched on
Moses was delivered from death
Moses was delivered from slavery
Moses was be prepared to be used in a mighty way
Because of someone who loved him enough to place him in a basket
It is ironic that the place of protection for Moses came from the same place as the impending death
God used Jochebed
To get Moses into the house of Pharaoh
The enemy of Israel
To bless him
And to save him
What do you need to place in a basket and give to God’ this morning
Are you afraid?
Put that fear in a basket and give it to God
Disappointed in yourself?
Someone else?
God?
Put it in the basket and give it to him
Trying to do it your way?
Put it in a basket and give it to God
Do you lack faith?
Put what you have in a basket and give it to God
He will grow your faith
Do you have trouble trusting?
Put it in a basket and give it to God
Put yourself in Jochebed’s shoes one more time this morning
See yourself placing that basket in the reeds in the river
Imagine the overwhelming desire to go back
Pick it up
Take it back home
Think about how the story could have played out if she had of picked it up
I bring this up
Because this is often what we do
Place our fears and anxieties
Our disappointments
Our selfishness
Our desires
Our sins in a basket
And say
Here God
Please
Please
Take this away
Please forgive me
Please deliver me
God
Please!
And then we take just a few steps
Just a few
And turn back around
And pick them back up
Take them out of the basket
Out of the river
I encourage you this morning
Let it go
Give it to God
Put your past mistakes and sins in the basket
And walk away
Put your fears and anxiety in the basket
And walk away
Put your disappointments
Your addictions
Your hurts
Your hang-ups
Your selfish desires in the basket
And walk away
Problem kids
Put them in the basket
Give them to God
Problems at work
In your relationships
Put them in a basket and give them to God
Money issues
Depression
Heath problems
Put them in a basket and give them to God
Then
Turn around walk away
And
Let him have them
Knowing that he is in charge
Knowing that only he can fix what is broken
Let his plan live in you
God is always in charge
And he always has a plan
Sometimes we can’t see the plan
Or understand the plan
That’s where faith and trust come in
God has a plan for your life
Just as he had a plan for Moses
First
He wants to deliver you from whatever mess or bondage you are in
Then he wants to use you
Then he wants to bless you
It’s a simple plan
And it starts with belief
Close from the heart
Pray
