Summer At Sea: Week 3 Day 3

Exodus 1:15-17

15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “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.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.

I love this Scripture! Two women who probably lived respected, but humble lives in their communities, had the wisdom and confidence to defy the most powerful man in their world at that time. Pharoah had the power to immediately have them put to death for their failure to carry out his instructions; these women knew this. They had probably witnessed some of the cruelty and wrath of the Egyptian ruler. Despite all of this, they feared God more than Pharaoh and were prepared with an answer to the question that would ultimately come. These women were true heroes. Two powerless, unimportant ladies, who when challenged to defy God, decided to defy evil. 

I wonder how I would respond to such an order? Would I be courageous enough? In our own power we might lack the courage, but when something is so clearly God’s will for us to do, we can trust in Him and rely on Him for strength and courage. Our choice might not be a life and death choice, like that of the midwives, but it could still be a clear choice between good and evil; one where we know the right thing to do. In those moments, let’s put all our trust in the One who gave it all for us. Jesus certainly gave us the greatest example of this and He will see us through!