Photo Credit: cocoparisienne at Pixabay.com

Title: God’s Extended Blessing Of Grace
Date: May 31, 2022

With all the heart-wrenching and frightening events our generation experiences and grieves over, we can only remain courageous and strongly steadfast by the depth of our trust in Jesus… and Jesus only.

We are all affected by the evil directly aimed at our children. They are in the bullseye of the demonic schemes to destroy us. From all the big stuff we understandably worry about for our families, to the day-to-day ups and downs, we can always find our comfort by turning to scripture. Times were very different then and yet our end goals are the same. Even in bible times we read stories about evil ones out to destroy the children. How did those generations overcome? Through the same means we will: The GRACE of God! Let’s look to a woman whose name you may not recognize, although her story is commonly known by believers and non-believers alike.

Exodus 1:22

Then Pharaoh gave his order to all his people, saying, “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile to kill him, but let every girl live.”

Exodus 2:1-10

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levi woman, 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. 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. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 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. Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 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. 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.”

Isn’t this a clear example of children being at the center of Satan’s evil schemes? We may have different modern-day cares and concerns for our children, but we need the same rock this woman had! What kind of woman was this who took such an extraordinary chance, and why did the Lord choose her to bear a son named Moses whose destiny would radically change our world? Jochebed was known to be a wise woman who was righteous and God-fearing. She desperately searched for a way to save her newborn son. Can you put yourself in her shoes? She had to have a deeply courageous and trusting spirit to be able to do what most of us could not imagine doing!

And not only did God allow her plan to succeed but He rewarded this woman’s faith with a bonus! She was asked to nurse her own child and to help raise him. Isn’t that just like our God, to take a desperate situation and make a way, to unexpectedly give more than we ask for?

It seems like the Lord is always reminding me to trust Him completely. I’m so thankful I have never been faced with whether or not to send my newborn son down a river! However, relinquishing my entire family into God’s care as they go out into this scary world is not always an easy task.  From the big things to the small I want to be more like Jochebed. I want that kind of trust even when our world is filled with such darkness! If we choose to trust our Mighty Father as she did, we too can experience God’s grace… and His unexpected bonuses!

I was given just a glimpse of God’s goodness and protection this past weekend. I flew to Texas to watch my three grandchildren as my daughter and her husband vacationed. For weeks my daughter agonized over leaving her babies. It was the first time in eight years she was to do so.

I myself had anxiously been praying for weeks that all would go well as I cared for them, that I would safely and successfully deliver all their babies back into their loving arms once they returned home. I knew in my heart that I would take good care of my grandchildren, however ultimately it is God who protects them! It is He who is their true guardian and it is His watchful eye that I must trust!

That weekend, I loaded up the children in the car and we were off to go watch their cousin play football about 40 minutes away. With all precaution I first prayed for traveling mercies, turned on my GPS and like an airline captain, I assumed the task of getting my passengers to our destination safely:

Prescriptive driving glasses on: check!
Make the “Fasten seat belts” announcement: check!
Look to the speed limit and drive slower: check!

I realize how really neurotic I can be! I quickly asked the Lord for forgiveness for forgetting who truly is the captain of my life and those precious babies! Not that taking those precautions was bad, but it was the worry that accompanied it that was!

As I approached the field, I came to a four way stop in a quiet residential area with very few cars on the road. I sighed with relief that we had made it safely, but as I started to go through the intersection, I happened to look to my left as a car came plowing through at a high speed without any regard to the stop sign. I was midway through the intersection and slammed on my brakes. Truly he was inches away from causing a serious accident. As I pulled into the parking lot my heart was still racing! As I was praising God for His protection, my eyes fell upon a sign nailed to a wooden fence, proudly boasting the words, “God’s Grace.”

We often associate the biblical meaning of “grace” with forgiveness, repentance or salvation. However a more accurate definition describes grace as “the unmerited favor of God on mankind.” The word “grace” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word charis, which means extended blessing or kindness given. That is who our God is and what He does. And on that Saturday afternoon He wanted me to believe that grace is always there for me…Without fail!

The story of Jochebed faithfully placing Moses in the basket and setting him off down the river causes me to ask myself: What do I need to metaphorically place in a basket and faithfully send down a river? Can I fully trust Jesus with the outcome?  Can I relinquish those who I love and adore so deeply into His care no matter how dire situations look? Can I expect God to pour out His favor when I’m too busy pouring energy into my fears?

What’s your worry? What preoccupies your mind lately? Place it in that basket and believe with all your heart that as life’s currents take many twists and turns God is lovingly guiding you. He is your captain, your leader who is saying buckle up and I’ll get you there safely! For His grace is always sufficient for you, and like the old hymn joyfully claims it is definitely amazing!

Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May His face turn towards you and give you peace.

Hebrews 4:16

Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

John 1:16

Out of His fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.

We must not fear the unknown. We must not waste precious time concerning ourselves with that over which we have no control.  Scripture is a series of stories of individuals experiencing gut-wrenching situations, yet we see God show up over and over for them and He never leaves them defenseless. God gave them what they needed when they needed it, and not a moment before. He will do the same for us! He never runs out of favor or grace.  I’m sure Jochebed would tell us today that God will do far more than we could ever imagine…we just need to be strong and trust Him!

Grace and favor have nothing to do with us, but everything to do with the giver! We must freely accept this precious gift, but more importantly believe it to be for us and also for those we love! Thank you Jesus!

Delighting in safe pasture,

Linda