A Mother’s Day Message
“God Has A Plan”
Exodus 2
As I approached this morning’s teaching, I am reminded once again of a mother in the Scriptures that exemplifies the meaning of parenting and how God has a special role for mothers in the upbringing of their children. And what I also see is that this applies to dads as well.
Now, Mother’s Day is a day that we set aside to honor our mothers. But this day means different things to many.
For some, it’s a day of sorrow as their mothers are no longer with them, or they are suffering the pain of a lost child, or a child who is no longer with them, or they haven’t seen for some time.
For others, they never really had a good relationship with their mothers, so it hard because they don’t like to be reminded.
And for others, they’ve had difficulty being a mom, and they’ve harbored guilt and shame for maybe some wrong decisions their children may have made.
There are just a few, and each of these have various layers attached to them.
But these sorts of scenario’s some may wonder why even do a Mother’s Day message. And the reason why I want to is to reinforce that God can give to everyone a new day, a new life, and a new or renewed relationship with Him.
Now, if I could, I’d like to share with the men some things that I have learned as to what not to buy your wife on Mother’s Day, and hopefully for some of us, it’s not too late.
Don’t buy anything that plugs into an electrical outlet. Not that she can’t use it, but if it’s a vacuum cleaner or something useful for household chores, or a kitchen appliance, or even a beauty product, she’ll wonder what you’re trying to tell her, and I guarantee that it won’t be what you meant by buying it.
Also, don’t buy a piece of clothing that involves a size, because if it’s too big, she’ll say, “I big to you think I am.” Or if it’s too small she’ll say, “I haven’t worn that size in years,” and then she’ll think she is too big.
And whatever you do, don’t buy a weight loss or self-improvement book or DVD, and I really don’t need to explain why on either of those.
And if you spend too much, she’ll say, “We can’t afford it.” And if it isn’t that much, she’ll think, we’ll, I can’t even go there!
And so, before I get myself into more trouble, let’s look at our topic of God’s role for mothers, because not matter how young or old your child may be, God has given you that child or children, and has a special blessing and role for you to play. And again, this goes for dads as well.
And here’s the main point, that God has a plan for your children, and He has given them to us to help them along the path He has chosen for them to take.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and then he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 NKJV)
The word, “train,” has with it the idea of dedication, and so the training should be with a purpose. And it is something that God has given to parents to see and understand early in the child’s life and then help change wrong or harmful behavior and thinking to allow the child to be everything God has created for them to be.
But I don’t believe it’s talking about their future career, but rather their future behavior and relationship with God. For you see, a child as two roads they can take, just like every adult. For adults it’s the die road that leads to destruction, or the narrow road that leads to everlasting life in the presence of God (Matthew 7:23-24). Therefore, according to the book of Proverbs, the narrow road is the way of the wise and righteous, but the wide road is the way of the wicked and foolish.
Now, today’s story looks at Moses’s mom, Jochebed (Joch’-E-bed). But not much is known about his dad, Amram (Am’-ram), except he had the good sense to marry Jochebed.
Read Exodus 2:1-3
Now, there’s not a lot here to work with, but there are two key points we can learn from, and again this applies to dads as well.
Jochebed understood her role as a mother in God’s plan for Moses, and what we see is not only did she protect him but raised him in the ways of God where in the course of history, he followed God’s lead and led the children of Israel out from their Egyptian bondage and into God’s Promised Land.
The first thing I see is our need to protect our children the best way we can.
Protect as Best We Can
Moses’s birth could not have come at a worse time, as far as world events were concerned, but it was God’s perfect time. And this is something that we must all remember, and that is, our children were not only conceived and born in God’s perfect timing, but they were born in accordance with God’s plan.
After the Jewish people had been in Egypt, and after Joseph’s death, it says they multiplied and prospered, so much so that the new Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph saw them as a threat and enslaved them fearing potential insurrection or joining with Egypt’s enemies. But the more he afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. So, the midwives were told to kill all the male babies. But the midwives feared God more than Pharaoh. Finally, he gave the decree that all male babies were to be thrown in the Nile River and drowned.
And into this environment Moses awas born, but I love what is says.
“So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.” (Exodus 2:2 NKJV)
Now, to say the child was beautiful in the eyes of Jochebed is a no brainer. Every mother thinks their child is the cutest and best there is. But while this may be true of Moses, I think it refers to something more.
I find this in the book of Acts. “At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father's house for three months.” (Acts 7:20 NKJV)
And so, at the very inception of Moses’s life, God impressed upon Jochebed that Moses was something special, and that God had a plan for Moses’s life. And this can be said, I believe, for every child. If I had believed my mom and dad, if they would have had me first, I would have been the last.
I think the natural instinct of any. Mother is to protect their children, but this was even more, because it goes on to say how she did it, by hiding him out for three months. Think about that, a crying child that Pharaohs’ guards could hear at any time.
But she went even further, when she couldn’t hid Moses any longer, she devised a plan to save him, and in the process, although she didn’t know it at the time, continue to care for him.
God places our hearts as parents, the passion to care for our children, which then includes care that exceeds just the physical needs. And this involves their spiritual needs, teaching them God’s commands, that is, the will and way of God as outlined in the Bible, and then making sure they live their lives by them, not only by the example we set, but by our making sure we follow Joshusa’s directive.
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15 NKJV)
Our job and goal in God’s plan is to raise His children, that’s right, they are His, and He has given them to us as gifts, and we therefore need to help keep them safe by protecting them from falling victim to a sinful world and sometimes that means fighting against our desire to protect by allowing the child to feel the sting of their own wrong choices.
Use What We Have Been Given
“But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.” (Exodus 2:3 NKJV)
Knowing she couldn’t hide Moses any longer, Jochebed made a small boat. Out of the reeds she found by the riverbank, she made a baby sized vessel to float on the water, and she used the pitch on the outside so it wouldn’t leak and sink. Both of these elements were in large supply.
She then placed it inside the reeds that lined the river. In other words, she used what she had. And catch this, the Jews in Egypt didn’t build boats, that float, instead they were trained to build cities that sink.
And so, this young slave girl, built a rickety boat and worried that it wouldn’t be enough, but she used what she had so much, and the really neat part is that God did the rest.
It’s amazing how we think that God only uses the well trained to do the extraordinary things, but instead God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
And the Bible is filled with such stories. Like God using Moses and a wooden staff to defeat the entire Egyptian army. He used David and a sling shot to defeat Goliath and the entire Philistine army. And he used a boy’s lunch to feed over 5,000.
Now, you may be wondering, but how can God use us to raise our children up for Him? Are we capable? NO. Do we possess the wisdom? NO. But God is capable and has all the wisdom you or I are ever going to need.
Look at what the Apostle Peter tells us and be encouraged.
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (1 Peter 2-3 NKJV)
Now, we may not have used it in the right way, but don’t you think that God is big enough with what we have, it’s now up the child, who is now an adult to make use of what he or she knows is right and true.
And this leads me to the last point, and we’ll look further into Exodus chapter two for this.
Trust God
Now, I don’t believe it was a random placing of Moses in the reeds, but it was divinely inspired, nor to have his sister nearby. Look at what it says.
Read Exodus 2:5-9
Jochebed knew that God could save her son. So, she trusted God to take care of him. And I truly believe God gave her exactly what to do and how to do it.
Moses was at the right place at the right time, found by the right person, and then God actually had Jochebed paid for taking care of her own child. And we don’t think He can take care of whatever we’re going through.
Jochebed was willing to let go and let God. She literally had to let go of her son and place him in a rickety little boat, into a river known as a place of death, that was not only filled with crocodiles, but where children were thrown into the drown.
And in all of this, she trusted in God. Now, in the book of Hebrews this act was what God called a great act of faith although her name was never mentioned.
“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command.” (Hebrews 11:23 NKJV)
Now, Moses’s ultimate care was not up to Amram or Jochebed but was up to God. Moses could not have been in better hands or arms than the hand and arms of God. Jochebed trusted God to do for Moses what she could not.
And now, as she nursed him, you can bet that she instilled as much of God’s word into his heart and mind as she could, and we see this in Moess’s ultimate decisions and actions.
I’d like to conclude with something I said at the beginning, and that is while we may not feel like we’ve done enough as parent, or that we didn’t raise our children the right way, there comes a point where we have to believe and trust in God.
But even more importantly, we must turn back to God. We must confess our sins and repent, that is, we need to turn from the world’s way and back to God, and God will honor that effort.
And I truly believe that when we trust in and honor God that God will honor us. This was the life of Jochebed, and it was a life that changed the course of human history, and brought God’s gift of salvation to all humanity, and that is His son, Jesus Christ, born of a young Jewish virgin, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Conclusion
Let me end with this promise given by God.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV)
No matter what you are going through, no matter what you may be feeling, please know that God isn’t finished with you. He has great plans and purposes for your life. Therefore, God has a purpose beyond our present understanding. The Lord cares for us so He can do something great through us and through our situation.
So, moms and dads, don’t despair and don’t give up. God’s got you, and He won’t let you fall when you place the whole of your life and the life of your family in His hands.
