Fear is the biggest enemy of obedience.
In the face of a choice, God's way versus our way, we often consider how each option will make us feel. After all, we are emotional girls right? The biggest feeling that drives our decisions is fear. We fear man's opinions. We fear conflict. We fear discomfort. We fear bad results. We fear a painful outcome. We fear personal loss (of control, pleasure, pride, money, career, status ect).
Throughout the story of Moses, we read about people who disobey God out of fear and people who obey God in spite of fear. Today, we are going to focus on the 3 examples: Shiphrah, Puah, Jochebed (who?), and Pharaoh (now that is a name I recognize).
{Shiphrah and Puah} Let's start at the very beginning (usually a good place to start). Before Moses was born, God started to fulfill His promise, the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 15), to His people, the Israelites, by increasing their numbers and growing their strength. This scared the King of Egypt! He did not want the Israelites to outnumber the Egyptians. So, he put the Israelites to hard, brutal work and ordered the midwives to kill any newborn Hebrew baby boy. God specifically mentions two of the midwives by name, Shiphrah and Puah. You see, these women's faith made them especially noteworthy. They chose to obey God rather than their emotions. They obeyed God in spite of fear.
The midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them. Exodus 1:17
The midwives put their jobs on the line in order to do the right thing. Instead of disobeying God, they told Pharaoh that the Hebrew women were giving birth before the midwives could even enter the room to check the baby's gender. Now, some believe the midwives' excuse was a lie. Others say that God Himself allowed the Hebrew women to give birth so quickly so the midwives had an "out". But either way, God rewards the midwives' faith in Him. Because of their obedience, God offers them protection and a family (in that day, midwives did not usually have children).
{Jochebed} The next courageous act of obedience we see is through Moses' mother, Jochebed. After the midwife incident, Pharaoh commanded that every Hebrew son be cast in the Nile river. By faith, Jochebed secretly hid baby Moses in her house. And, then, when Moses got older, by faith, she put him inside a strong, woven basket. By faith, she placed the basket in the river's reeds by the palace in hopes that the Pharaoh's daughter would have compassion on him.
Moses' mother risked a lot that day. She may never see her son again. She may get caught by an Egyptian. The Pharaoh's daughter may never notice the basket. Moses may die in the river or by an Egyptian's hand. Jochebed risked never knowing the end of the story.
Can you imagine what she must have felt, letting go of Moses? Even though her daughter stood guard over the basket, I imagine it took a lot for this mother to un-grip the basket and walk away from her baby.
Faith in God will set us above the enslaving fear of man. Matthew Henry
By letting go of the basket, Moses' mother let God take care of him. She was obedient in spite of the consequences. If Jochebed feared her own safety above God's law, she would have never seen God work. For God took care of Moses. Jochebed did get to see her baby again (as his NURSE!). She was saved from Pharaoh. The Pharaoh's daughter did have compassion on Moses. Moses did not die by an Egyptian's hand but rather raised by one! Because Jochebed obeyed God, she witnessed God's faithfulness and abundant provision. She played an active part in God's plan and joyfully watched it unfold.
Although potentially painful, obedience is how we see God work.
{Pharaoh} What happens when we choose fear over God? Let's take a look at Pharaoh whose life is dominated by fear. He fears the Israelites, so he murders and enslaves them. He fears loosing, so he refuses to release the Israelites. He fears discomfort, so he "repents" of his sins. Because Pharaoh does not fear (respect and acknowledge) God, God uses his selfish idols (the sun, cattle, frogs, ect.) against Egypt. God sends tangible darkness, deadly diseases, and destructive creatures.
But the biggest plague of all is Pharaoh's hard heart. God removes Pharaoh's fear of His wrath so that Pharaoh does what he wants to do. Pharaoh acts like their is no God and, instead, acts on his own feelings and desires. The idols of Pharaoh's heart create callouses that keep growing harder.
What we make an idol of it is just with God to remove from us or embitter to us. Matthew Henry
While the Egyptians sit in darkness, blinded by fear, the Israelites walk in the light, guided by hope and faith. We, too, struggle with the plague of a hard heart. Every time we disobey God out of fear of man, unhappiness, failure, the future, conflict, or pain we create callouses on our heart.
When we disobey God, we doubt that His way is better. A life of disobedience is a life of fear. God's way is love! His commands are for our protection. Living God's way is living in freedom, confidence, joy, and blessings. Obeying God is how we see Him work in BIG ways! If you want to be apart of God's amazing plan, just like the Hebrew midwives and Moses' mother, you have to obey God no matter the cost. God will bless your obedience in ways you never expect!
But, thankfully, God's grace softens our heart. The Holy Spirit gives us the desire and the way by which we can obey God. Those who are in Christ have a new heart, one that is still susceptible to callouses, yet softened toward the things of God.
So, bring your heart to God. Ask him to take away your callouses. It may hurt a little. God may choose hard ways to reveal your fears. Pharaoh's idols were embittered to him. Jochebed had to let go. Shiphrah and Puah had to say no. Ask God to give you the courage and faith to choose His way even when you feel afraid. Thank God for removing your callouses and softening your heart towards Him.
God, here is my heart. Forgive me for fearing man's opinion and discomfort more than your Name. File down my callouses. I know it may hurt. Help me to be content with whatever method you use to reveal my deepest fears, whether it be trials, conflict, or pain. Give me the courage to choose YOUR way above my own. I want to act on truth not feelings. Remind me that your way is better for, there, I find rest, joy, comfort, and satisfaction in you. Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross to soften my once hard heart towards You. I want to live in the freedom that you died so that I may enjoy. Amen.
☎︎
The Girl Next Door
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