Can You See the Way Forward?

What do you do when the way forward is unclear?  When every decision you could make appears to have a negative outcome?  You desperately want to see the sun shining but when you look out the window the view in front of you is obscured by white fog.  The trees, which you know are covered in beautiful fall colors, don’t even appear.  How do you move forward when you shout into the fog, “Hey God, I’m here!  Are you?”

Recently on a biblical tour of Egypt I was reminded of a story from God’s word that I learned as a child:  the story of Moses.  Jochebed, his mom, and Amram, his father lived in a tumultuous time in Jewish history.  The Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt.  Exodus 1 tells us that the Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, “made their lives bitter with hard service.”  Where was their hope of deliverance?  The next generation! 

Every Jewish mother must have prayed that her son/her daughter would be the one that God would use to deliver them. 

Yet, the Pharaoh attempted to destroy the next generation.  He instructed two Jewish midwives, Puah and Shiprah, to kill every male child when they were born.  Instead the midwives chose to fear the One True God over the Pharaoh.  When the way forward seems unclear, always choose to fear God over your circumstances or the people who you believe control your life.  

When Pharaoh’s plan didn’t work, he then ordered every male child born to be thrown into the Nile River which was infested with crocodiles.  If the babies didn’t drown, they would be eaten. I’ve had some difficult circumstances and people in my life; however, none this bad!

When Moses was born to Jochebed, she saw something special in him.  Doesn’t every mother have hopes and dreams for her child?  Yet, what was she to do?  She made a “faith decision.” A faith decision may make no sense to those around you.  It is a decision based on hope in WHO you believe in and not on what circumstances or others dictate to you. 

Jochebed hid Moses for three months.  If you’ve ever had a newborn, can you imagine hiding him/her for three months?  Jochebed then made a basket out of papyrus and coated it with pitch.  She placed the basket in the Nile river, the same crocodile infested river in which other babies had met their death.  Although God’s word doesn't tell us this, she must have observed the area where the Pharaoh’s daughter and her entourage went to bathe in the river, maybe an area where crocodiles weren’t in abundance.  She placed Moses in the basket and left him to be watched by her daughter.  

When the way is unclear, do not just depend on logic.  Depend on your relationship to Jesus and put one foot in front of the other.  Make a faith decision.  She chose between impending death for her child and an unlikely hope.  Hope is key in faith decisions.  

Pharaoh’s daughter saw the child and had compassion on him.(Exodus 2:6)  It was not natural for the daughter of the Pharaoh to have compassion on any Hebrew.  Where did that favor come from?  Almighty God!  A faith decision on our part reveals God’s power.

One mom’s desperate faith decision led to one of the greatest leaders in Israel’s history.  Due to his mom’s faith decision, Moses was educated in the finest of Egyptian schools and came to understand Egyptian culture and their false beliefs.  Despite his education and his privileges, God tells us that Moses “was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.”  (Numbers 12:3)

Why was Moses so humble?  He had observed the wealth and education of the Egyptians and compared it to his parent’s way of life and their belief in the One True God.  This allowed him to be equipped to lead Israel out of slavery. 

Faith decisions produce humility in us.  We realize that we are truly unable to control anyone or anything!  Only God can clear the fog and make a way.  

When the days seem impossible and every where you turn the way seems unclear, choose to ask God for direction and make a faith decision!

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1