The Well

LETTING GO!

During this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw what a beautiful baby he was and kept him hidden for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got a little basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile River. The baby's sister then stood at a distance, watching to see what would happen to him.
Soon after this, one of Pharaoh's daughters came down to bathe in the river, and her servant girls walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the little basket among the reeds, she told one of her servant girls to get it for her. As the princess opened it, she found the baby boy. His helpless cries touched her heart. "He must be one of the Hebrew children," she said.
Then the baby's sister approached the princess. "Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?" she asked.
"Yes, do!" the princess replied. So the girl rushed home and called the baby's mother.
"Take this child home and nurse him for me," the princess told her. "I will pay you for your help." So the baby's mother took her baby home and nursed him.
Later, when he was older, the child's mother brought him back to the princess, who adopted him as her son. The princess named him Moses, for she said, "I drew him out of the water."
Exodus 2:1-10

I have a little plaque on my wall that states: "Happiness is a butterfly which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." Apparently, we could replace the word "happiness" with "love" and reach the same conclusion based on this story of Moses' infancy. Love led Moses' mother to let go of him to save his life.

This story is very real to me right now because seven years ago, our middle daughter left her two precious children in our care. I wrote today's devotional at 1:45 am, on a Saturday morning and the Lord impressed me that I could look at Cindy's situation in one of two ways.

1. She was taking advantage of us so she could go and do whatever it is she wanted to do.
2. She knew she wasn't capable of loving her children right then so she trusted us to do it for her.

We choose to believe the later.

The Thursday morning, before this, after being up all night with the babies, I finally approached the Lord and told Him that I had reached my limit ¾ I was tired. I asked for a Word from Him and asked that He would minister to me and give me the strength I needed for this time. Well, He answered quickly with a beautiful story from the devotional, "A Heart Like His" by Mike & Amy Nappa. They shared about a man who volunteers at a hospital just to love on crack babies and how that is the express image of God's unconditional love. I cried.

Satan likes trying to throw us off course, feeding our selfishness. However, when the Holy Spirit lets us know that our crisis is to glorify God ¾ we can nurse another person's child and then one day let it go just as Moses' mother did. And guess what! They come back if they know they were loved.