On this Mother’s Day we come across a special story about mothers in the Bible. We begin with the story of Moses in Acts. 7:20. At that time Moses was born. He was a beautiful child in God’s eyes and for the first three months he was cared for by his parents. 21 But when they could no longer hide him, they exposed him, and Pharaoh’s daughter found him. She adopted him and cared for him like her own child. 22 He received thorough training in Egyptian science and was powerful in his dealings.
Or, as the King James Version states: 22And Moses was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and was mighty in words and in works (SV1750).
The Bible says that when Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s court, he was a handsome boy and mighty in word and deed. So he had a time when he could speak very well. He had a great future as the prince of Egypt and we would almost say that he had everything going for him. And apparently during his upbringing he heard that he was a Jew, as we can see from the sequel in Acts. 7:23When Moses was forty years old, he decided to go and see how the Israelites were doing, after all, they were his own people. 24He went and saw one of them being abused by an Egyptian overseer. Moses stood up for him and killed the Egyptian. 25He thought that his people would understand that God had appointed him to deliver them. But they didn’t understand that!
Here you see a man who has been called by God to liberate an entire people. In all his enthusiasm he tried to realize his calling. But unfortunately things go completely wrong and he kills someone due to a lack of self-control, which ultimately forces him to flee. Severely disappointed and disillusioned, he ran into the desert. For forty years he did nothing but herd sheep for his father-in-law. (Acts 7:26-29)
Maybe you recognize something in that image. You know that God has a plan for everyone’s life and you have experienced a calling. Just as Moses undoubtedly thought it was the hand of God that had placed him in the Egyptian court, you too have become convinced that you yourself have come this far at some point in your life. In your enthusiasm you go to work for God and try to do everything for Him. No matter how hard you try, things don’t go as you expected and you end up disappointed. Your great principles suddenly seem worthless. But often we are tempted to think in the worldly way. However, God first wants to change us from within, so that your world will change.
During the period in the desert, all of Moses’ dreams were shattered. His ideas and wishes all came to nothing. He is now 80 years old and has lost his education, his intended role, yes, everything. The education of his two children is even lagging behind. The prince, the man of authority, no longer believes in himself. There is nothing left of the confident man he was. You can bet that the accuser, Satan, has told him that he can forget about it, that he is too old and useless. That he no longer has to count on anything, that he has no right to it. He also points out your circumstances and where you went wrong.
But God does not leave Moses in the desert, he has an encounter with Him as described in Acts. 7:30Forty years later, one day Moses was in the wilderness at Sinai and saw an angel of God in the flames of a burning bush. 31He did not know what he saw. As he came closer to get a better look, God spoke to him. 32“I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Moses began to shake with fear and did not dare to look anymore. 33God said to him, “Take off your sandals, for the ground on which you are standing is holy. 34I have seen and heard how my people in Egypt are oppressed and mistreated, and how they groan in misery. I have come to set it free. Therefore I will send you to Egypt.”
So Moses was told that now had come the time for which he was called. In Exod.3:11ff. you can read all the arguments Moses uses to say that he no longer considers himself capable of it. We too are often unable to take action when the moment comes. But just like with Moses, God wants to show you that He has not forgotten you. He wants to bring you to the plan He has for you.
The people who had been slaves for many generations, 400 years, were freed by Moses. The people could no longer believe that God had anything else in store for them. After all, they were born into slavery and were used to nothing else.
It is therefore important that disappointments and failures from the past should not determine your future. The Bible says in 2 Cor. 5:17 “you are eeone new creation, everything has become new.” So you have to forget what is behind you and assume that everything is new.
In Deut. 32, Moses composes a song at the end of the journey through the desert, when he is now 120 years old. And not a short sentence, no, 50 verses long. He had regained all his skills. His sight and strength were not diminished when he ascended the mountain in Deut. 34:7.
For us it also has to do with perception in this life; how do we look, how do we believe, what do we think, what does God think of us and who do we listen to? If your focus is on people, you will become negative. You will have to get it from God. God has a hopeful future for you, that the calling on your life will be fully realized. Moses had to learn that in his life.
The Bible says that if you need strength from God, if you need answers from Him, then it is near. When you are disappointed, when you have doubts, when the accuser bothers you and you think that God is far away, you do not have to go to heaven or cross the ocean. In Rom. 10:8But Moses also says, “What you seek is near, in your heart and on your lips,” that is, the message that you should trust in Christ, we tell here and everywhere.
Here Deut. 30:14 quoted, in which Moses says this to the people. The answer is already in your mouth. You must speak, namely the promise of God.
When Moses objected in his conversation at the burning bush, God asked him “what is in your hand?” And when Moses threw down the staff, it turned into a dangerous serpent. So that simple dead piece of wood that you already have with you is enough to manifest God’s power. The same applies to us: Even though you may not think much of yourself and expect God to come up with all kinds of external solutions, the answer is near, it is in your mouth. Everything you need is already within you, you just have to speak it.
Moses was able to turn the water in the Nile into blood with the same rod that he used to part the Red Sea. Don’t underestimate the little thing God has put in you. So ask yourself what you believe and what influences you. If all the answers are already within you, then you can start speaking accordingly.
As James says in the Bible, your tongue is like the rudder of a ship. Not the circumstances but your tongue steers the ship in your life. If you want a breakthrough, don’t get stuck in the past anymore, because enough has already gone wrong. You are a new creation, it is up to us to believe that and act accordingly, by talking differently from now on. Then your life changes course, slowly but surely, like a ship. Believe that what you sow, you will reap. God’s Word never returns empty. Take your Bible and repeat the promises it contains, day in and day out. The strength lies in persevering. Don’t expect results in the very short term. After all, there is also time between sowing and harvesting.
The birth of Moses is recorded in Exod. 1. We read the story of the oppression of Israel from verse 8. Then Egypt had a new king, who did not know Joseph. He therefore felt no obligation towards the inhabitants of Goshen. 9He said to his own people, “These Israelites are dangerous. That people is multiplying so quickly that if war ever comes, they will certainly side with our enemies and leave the country. 10We must ensure that it does not come to this.’ 11So they used the Israelites to build the store cities of Pitom and Raamses. The supervisors forced them to do hard work. 12aBut the harder the work and the oppression became, the faster the people grew.
You see that when God is with you, you can still grow despite all opposition. Pharaoh’s plan took on cruel forms, read in the sequel:
12b The Egyptians saw this with dismay and increased the pressure. 13The Israelites had to do heavy slave labor, both in the fields and in the production of stones. 14Abuse was commonplace. 15But as if that were not enough, Pharaoh king of Egypt called for the midwives Shiphrah and Puah. 16They were to kill all the newborn boys and leave the girls alive. 17But Shiphrah and Puah were women who feared God and refused to obey the king. They let all the babies live.
The midwives were real mothers, they chose life. Despite Pharaoh’s power, they took a risk. And God blesses them. The nation continues to grow, despite Pharaoh’s opposition. Read along in verse 18. The king called them to him and called them to account, saying, “Why have you not done my bidding and left the newborn boys alive?” 19 “King,” they answered, “the Hebrew women have deliveries so fast that we can’t keep up. They don’t take as long as the Egyptian women!’ 20 God blessed the work of these midwives, so that hethe people of Israel became more and more numerous. 21 Because the midwives had done right in the sight of the Lord, He also gave them children. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people to throw all the newborn Hebrew boys into the Nile. Only the little girls were allowed to live.
Satan is always out to kill, just like at the birth of Jesus when Herod had all the boys under the age of two killed (Matt. 2). When the enemies, and they can sometimes be very close, try to make your life more difficult, keep trusting God instead of fighting them.
And don’t read these stories with horror as if these were barbaric times. Because even now millions of babies are killed by abortion. Back then it was the enemy killing the babies, but now it’s the mothers killing their babies. Then it was after birth, now it is before birth. That is a stain on a nation. The world values women more when they pursue a career than when a woman becomes a mother. And especially if things don’t go the way we think they should. Be happy with every child that is born, it is a blessing from God. Leave your condemnations aside. God is a God of life, even if such a child comes in a way or at a time when you would not have planned it yourself.
In Exod. 2, Moses’ mother, Jochebed, is discussed. She was a religious woman. She had a son right at the time when all the boys were being murdered. No doubt she asked God why she had this son. She not only spoke in faith, but she also acted in faith. Ultimately, Moses became a savior for the three million Jews who were oppressed by this cruel pharaoh.
It is a beautiful story when you consider that the daughter of Pharaoh adopts this Jewish boy. Through Moses’ sister, Mirjam, who kept an eye on everything from a distance, the real mother is allowed to raise her son and is thanked, paid and protected by the ruler. God can really turn everything for the better. So don’t be afraid of losing things. God can come back at any time and give you much more than you ever imagined.
When Moses returns from the desert after eighty years, he has become a man of God. He did not dwell on the failures of the past but started speaking about what God has said about your life. Major changes will also take place in your life.
On a Mother’s Day like this, I want to point out that women have always had a great impact in the Bible. There are differences.
Michal, once David’s wife, was taken back by her father Saul because David fell from grace. David had other women in life that followed. Years later, upon David’s return, when he danced in front of the ark in his underwear, she showed her contempt. She had become bitter about having to share David with other women. That bitterness prevented her from having children.
Another woman is Hannah, who later became Samuel’s mother. She was married to Elkanah, who already had another wife named Peninnah. She already had many children, and at that time a woman’s honor was related to the number of children. She scolded Hanna for not having children, but Hanna was not bitter. She went to God with her concerns. She poured out her heart in the temple of God. Something I would recommend to all of you. If things did not go as you had hoped, do not become bitter, do not dwell on the past, but continue to trust God. After Hannah received the promise of a child from Priest Eli, she recovered. She started eating and drinking again and joy returned. That’s what God does. Your circumstances may not have turned around yet, but inside you have received a touch of God’s peace that suddenly allows you to enjoy life again. Ultimately it’s about that touch from within, because we have to change from within.
After a year, her son Samuel was born and she was able to keep her promise that she would return the child to God. Actually the same attitude as Jochebed. She keeps that promise, and God uses the prophet Samuel to free an entire nation. “You never can outgive God.” He will always give you back more than you have given. So Hannah had five more children after Samuel (read 1 Sam. 1 and 2).
Mothers, do not become bitter. Don’t compare yourself to other women, don’t dwell on the past. Put aside your disillusionments and make promises about your life. Gradually, just like in the lives of Moses and Hannah, you will grow towards the moment when you will sing a song to the Lord. Always choose the positivity of God.
Phil. 3:14 But one thing I know for sure—forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead—I will rush toward my goal and obtain the prize prepared for me in heaven— , now God me through Christs Jesus has called.
Paul says here that he must forget and let go of everything that is behind him. He knew better than anyone that if you want to achieve your goal, you have to go there quickly. In another text he compares the journey to a race. When you stand at the start, you should have no baggage (Heb. 12:1). All ballast is left behind when you look at how an athlete prepares to get to the goal as quickly as possible. Mentally it also works that way. Let go of all the baggage of the past so that you can quickly reach your goal.
Paul wants to achieve God’s calling on his life, and that is why he lets go of everything that distracts him from it. You must remain deaf to comments around you, such as ‘you can’t do it’ or ‘you’re not worth it’. God has a plan for your life. He is a good Father, Who wants to see His children be successful. He will not write you off, because you were born for a higher purpose.
The success of this education lies in the doing. Block the charges and all the negativity. Feed on the Word. Start speaking according to the promises it contains, and slowly but surely the course of your life will change. Be patient in this and carry on.