Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” | Exodus 2:1–10
We had learned that God is very great. He is almighty. There is nothing that He cannot do. All things are in His hand.
Sometimes people say: “If God is very great, why does He let me be sick, or sad? Why do troubles come?”
Even when we are sick, or sad, or when troubles come, we must believe that God loves us, and that He does what is best for us. He knows what is good for all of us, and that is what He does, even though it may not seem best to us.
The Bible tells us about a poor mother in Egypt who had to throw her baby into the River Nile. Wicked King Pharaoh made a law that all baby boys of the Israelites had to be thrown into the river, to drown.
The mother loved her baby boy very much. She did not want to throw him into the river. That was a terrible thing to do! But she did not dare to keep him. Why had God let the king make such a law?
One day the baby’s mother made a little basket. She wove it of reeds, very carefully, so that it was like a little boat. She made sure it would not leak. She laid her baby in the basket, and brought him to the river. Miriam, the baby’s big sister, went along. The mother set the basket among the reeds, so that it could not float away. She knew that the princess, the daughter of the king, would come to the river.
“Now you watch,” she said to the baby’s sister, “to see what the princess will do when she finds our baby in the basket.”
When the princess came down to the river to bathe, she saw the basket. She sent one of her maids to get it.
The maid brought the basket to the princess. She opened it, and there she saw a fine baby boy! The baby began to cry!
The princess felt sorry for the baby. She did not throw the baby into the river to drown. Instead, she sent Miriam to get somebody to take care of the baby. And Miriam ran to get the baby’s own mother. Who could take better care of him?
Oh, how happy the mother was! Her baby was not drowned! And now she would not have to throw him into the river because the princess said she could keep him for a while, at least for a few years.
The princess gave the baby his name – Moses.
When Moses grew up, the princess said he was her son. He had to live in the palace. He learned all of the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was not a slave, like his brothers. He became a great and wise man.
Then God called Moses. God used Moses to bring the Israelites, His people, out of Egypt. Moses could be a great leader of God’s people because he had gone to school in Egypt, where he had become a wise man.
So all the poor mother’s troubles turned out for the best – the best for her, and for the baby, and for God’s people too! God always does what is best.
God sometimes does things today that make us afraid, or sad, or anxious. Sometimes He lets wicked people do terrible things. But these things are always for the best for His own people. We must believe that.
Something to talk about:
- When God sends us troubles, does that mean He does not love us?
- What must we do when He sends us troubles?
- What was the name the princess gave the baby in the basket?
Memory verse:
And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!” | Revelation 15:3