The Miracle of a Mother’s Love
“Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were here an hour, I would die for you. This is the miracle of life.” – Maureen Hawkins
I remember thinking after I became a mother that I would do anything to shield my son from danger. I would literally stand between anything; a train, a car, anything to protect him from harm. I know without a doubt that you feel that way about your child and your mother felt that way about you.
This Mother’s Day I have been thinking a lot about Jochebed, Moses’s biological mother. She is only mentioned a few times in scripture and yet what she did was so monumental. Because of her motherly love and an abundance of courage, she too, is responsible for the great exodus out of slavery for the Israelites in Egypt.
There was a new king of Egypt who didn’t have the relationship with Joseph that the previous king had. As a result, over time the Israelites lost favor in Egypt and were no longer favored guests in their land. The Pharoah began to imagine them as the enemy, and as a people to be feared should they rise up or join forces against Egypt. Out of fear and growing hatred of the Israelites, Pharoah first enslaves them then commands the death of male children. Exodus 1:15-21; “The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”
The midwives couldn’t bring themselves to follow the Pharoah’s orders. I just love how the midwives responded when they were questioned about not following his orders. They told the powers that be that they could not kill the babies because; “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive”. Don’t you just love their boldness, their cleverness, and their respect for life and God? As a reward the Bible tells us God blessed them with families of their own.
It was around the time Jochebed had her son that Pharoah attempted once again to weaken the Hebrews by ordering all baby boys be thrown into the Nile River. Jochebed hid her son for 3 months. When she felt she could no longer chance keeping him for fear he would be killed, she devised a plan. A plan only a mother could conceive. She waterproofed a basket, put her son in it and hid him among the reeds of the riverbank.
Can you imagine how torn she must have been? To keep him was to risk his life. To send him out in that basket was to also risk his life. One way was certain death, the other provided at least a chance for life. I began this message talking about the one thing your mother, and your children’s mother have in common – the willingness to risk all for her child. That is precisely what Jochebed had done.
How good God was to Jochebed though. Her daughter Miriam brought the baby in the reeds to the attention of the Pharaoh’s daughter who was near the river. With the same cleverness her mother demonstrated, Miriam offered to find a woman to nurse the baby for the princess. That woman was Jochebed! Jochebed was able to nurse her own child (for a wage no less). “When the child grew older, she took him to Pharoah’s daughter, and he became her son.” Exodus 2:10. I just love that God allowed Moses to be loved and nurtured by both his biological mother and adoptive mother. What a blessing for Jochebed. What compassion God showed her for her sacrifice.
Moses is credited for leading a nation out of slavery. But little is said of the sacrifice – the great sacrifice that was made by his mother. Not to mention her clever strategy to execute that sacrifice. The sacrifice required great trust in God.
Jochebed’s story is a story of trust. A story of God’s ability (not ours) to take what was a terrible situation and turn it into a miraculous event – in more ways than one. I remember the day, clearly, when I turned over my fears and worries for my son to the Lord. I gave my son the very best of me for many years. I raised him up in the way he should go. I loved him and sacrificed (gladly) for him. But at a certain point we must do as Jochebed did – turn our children and their future over to God. I remember telling God; I love my son so much – but however much I love him I realize that love cannot possibly compare to the love that You have for him. Setting our children free to be what God intended them to be is at some point in their lives the right thing to do – the only thing to do. Just as Jochebed turned her son over (along with her trust) to Almighty God. It won’t just be the child’s journey, but like Jochebed, it will be your story as a mother as well. Afterall, it all began with a woman who trusted her child’s life to the One who gives life.
I started out this message with a quote from Maureen Hawkins – as she so perfectly captures how a mother feels about her child. But it is also reminiscent of how God feels about each one of us: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart.” We were set apart before we were even formed in the womb! God knew us and loved us way before we even arrived.
I thought I’d share a picture of my child who was set apart by God even before he was in my belly at 8 Months! And what a lovely child he was. He’s also a wonderful adult man now. I thought it would be fun to share also with you a photo that ran in the press, on my due date no less, of me interviewing Dan Quayle.
Love to you all and Happy Mother’s Day – not just to the mothers out there – but to those who love their own mothers – recognizing that nothing, absolutely nothing, compares to a mother’s love – EXCEPT the love of our Heavenly Father. I pray this Mother’s Day you reflect fondly on the love that your mother had for you, the love you have as a mother, and the One who loves us even more – Our Father!
Love,
Rose
