Protection & Provision

I am constantly thankful for the Lord’s protection and provision. I can see His hand at work in my life and in the life of my family and friends. These two character traits of the Lord go hand in hand.

The setting is that Pharaoh, the King of Egypt is feeling threatened by the size of the Israelite group living in his country. He decides to curb the population growth by killing all the male babies. He gives the order and carries it out. I can only imagine the desperation of the parents as their baby would be born and he’s male. I’m sure each family used desperate measures to protect and provide for their family. Check this out…

1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said.

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?’

8 ‘Yes, go,’ she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.’ So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, ‘I drew him out of the water.’ (Exodus 2:1-10 NIV)

This is definitely a God-Story. The mother was desperate to protect her son and she hid him for 90 days. I can hardly imagine the desperation of hiding a baby for even a week knowing that if he’s found, he’ll be killed. I imagine that there were soldiers who came through the village every day or so looking for baby boys. As she’s preparing the basket boat, I imagine that she is desperately praying for God to protect her son. The mother was also providing an extra set of eyes, her older daughter, to watch over the basket as she put in among the reeds. The king’s daughter becomes a part of the protection and provision of God. It’s hard to grasp how all of this went down because the mom was able to nurse and nurture him until he was older, but then she gave him up to the king’s daughter. The king’s daughter even named the boy Moses. I wonder if the mom had called him by a different name. Her son was alive though and that really mattered.

God’s protection and provision is sometimes incredibly creative. He has resources beyond what we think about or know. I am learning to trust Him and constantly be grateful to Him for His protection and provision over me and my family.

Pressing On!

Dwayne