children

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Why Did You Ever Send Me?

Exodus 5:22 “…Why did You ever send me?”

As I look back on my life I wonder. There have been some crushing failures. I didn’t always make right decisions and even when I did, things didn’t always end well.

Becoming a mother was life changing. I had read many books and watched others succeed or fail. I was sure our children would be an example to all.

The reality was much harder. I didn’t have all the answers. Some days I didn’t have any answers. These children needed something I couldn’t give them. They needed the breath of the living God. So we taught and we prayed and we watched them grow and succeed and make mistakes. We made plenty of mistakes ourselves. It didn’t all turn out as we expected.

I went from thinking I was going to be a perfect mother to “why had God entrusted these children to me? I am obviously not succeeding at it.”

Then I remembered Moses. Rescued from death by Pharaoh’s daughter. Raised for a few years by his own mother. Grew up in a palace with every advantage. Murders an Egyptian when trying to stand up for his own people. Flees Egypt and lives in the wilderness until he meets God in the burning bush.

God had a job for him. Return to Egypt and get Pharoah to let my peole go. Moses was afraid. He argued with God about his abilities. God urged him on, even getting angry when Moses complained about his innability to speak well. (God gave him Aaron to be his mouth piece.)

Moses, with his brother Aaron in tow, confronted Pharaoh. He asked Pharaoh to let Israel go to worship their God. Pharaoh gets angry and takes it out on the sons of Israel. Their hard labor became impossible. The people turned on Moses and claimed Pharaoh was trying to kill them because of him.

Moses turns to God and says… “O LORD, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You ever send me?” (Exodus 5:22)

Can you relate? I have felt that way many times. But it isn’t about me. It is about God and what He will do in impossible situations.

God purposefully, step by step drew his people out of Egypt. There would be hardship and trial, but it is better to be in the wilderness with God than enjoying the leeks and onions of Egypt while under slavery. They had the promise of Canaan. They endured much to get there…and God was with them every step of the way…

So as I look back on my failures and my inadequacies I need to remember that God is a God of miracles who chooses frail and weak people to carry out his plans. It is because of my weaknesses that God’s power can be displayed. Any good that comes is not me. All the praise and glory go to Him.

Take heart. He has not left you here alone. He is with us each step of the way. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. This trouble will pass. There will be a better day. This testing will make you like gold.

Believe it!

So what do I do in the mean time? I faithfully do what God has given me to do. The results won’t always be what I expect. The beautiful ending won’t always happen. My job is simply to obey.

For further study:

I Corinthians 1:26-31

II Corinthians 12:9-10

Exodus 2-5

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Help for the Helpless

“Please don’t kill it!” she sobbed. “It’s unfair.” … “Fern,” he said gently, “you will have to learn to control yourself.”

“Control myself?” yelled Fern. “This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself.”

Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father’s hand. …

“But it’s unfair,” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?” … “This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of.”

And so begins one of the most beloved children’s stories, Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White.

I’ve felt like Fern this week. Another state, Illinois, is celebrating the fact that children are disposable. They live at the whim of their mother and her doctor. They aren’t considered precious. All of their protections have been removed up until the day of delivery. The picture of the governor gleefully signing it into law made me sick to my stomach. (See link to the article below.)

This is a very personal issue to me. All three of our children are adopted. I have two nephews that are also adopted. Four of those 5 children have 10 children between them. That is fifteen people who might be missing from my family if laws like this were enacted thirty years ago. I have a hard time with the “celebrations” going on.

A few months ago New York signed into law a similar bill and they lit up the capital to celebrate.

I have heard all the arguments. I have cried with and looked into the eyes of women who have had abortions and are now suffering greatly from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). I can’t fathom what the agenda of the legislators is, but it isn’t the protection and care of women.

Killing babies isn’t a new idea. Pharaoh ordered all the male Israelite babies to be thrown into the Nile. Plain and simple, he was racist. He didn’t like that the Israelites were prospering. He thought there were too many of them in the land.

Herod was another tyrant who had all the boys two and under killed in Bethlehem because he was afraid of a usurper.

Throughout history civilizations have sacrificed their children to their gods in an attempt to earn favor.

The God of the Bible has a very different view of children. Israel was to treat their children differently than the pagan nations around them.

“You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.” Deuteronomy 12:31 (NASB)

I believe each life has purpose and meaning. We are each made in the image of God. There is no less or more important. When we stop protecting the most vulnerable among us, our society has lost its foundation.

To quote Fern…”This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of.”

I pray our country changes direction.

For further study:  Jeremiah 1:5; Mark 10:14-15; Romans 5:6

 

https://world.wng.org/content/illinois_governor_signs_extreme_abortion_law?fbclid=IwAR2PVOKpY5-4_-bvQlIQhQr0F-29TPtzzAnMbCNke3VwL3gu03oX-zka4tA#.XQFsBfv6TMM.facebook