God Notions

Sometimes when I read scripture I will read without giving it much thought, then a verse will jump out and make me stop and ponder. This verse about Jochebed, Moses’ mother, did just that. 

Scripture says Exodus 2:1-3 … 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.

My heart aches when I put myself in Jochebed’s place, and still, I haven’t even an inkling of the desperation she must have felt trying to save her precious baby’s life. What was going through her mind as she made that basket knowing her plan? Was it her faith and trust in God that gave her the courage to place her precious son in that basket? I imagine her making the place she would lay him so carefully, picking him up and holding him close, feeling the warmth of his little body, the smell, the feel of his soft hair, and the warmth of his little wobbly head to her lips as she softly gives him one last kiss. Was it desperation, or faith and trust? I imagine her walking down to the river and finding the best place to release her son. I imagine her desperate prayers to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, tears streaming down her face pleading with God to protect her son. 

I imagine Jochebed’s desperation turned to faith and trust as she bled her heart out to the only One who could know her anguish. Did she remember God’s faithfulness to Abraham when he left his country, his people, his father’s household? Did she remember God’s faithfulness to Abraham and Sarah, making the impossible possible and giving them a son in their old age? I don’t know what she remembered, but I do believe she remembered Who. She didn’t know His name, she didn’t need to, she knew His past faithfulness and trustworthiness and with that, she placed her basket and her precious child in the water, opened her hand, and with a gentle push, released him.

What do I need to put in my basket and release to the One who has the power, who has the authority, who has the desire to carry it for me?

Jochebed didn’t know His name, but I do, it is the precious name of Jesus.