They had been living as slaves for many years in Egypt. Jochebed and her husband Amram already had a daughter and son, and were now expecting their third child. But there was no excitement, for Pharaoh had ordered that all baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile to be killed.

When Jochebed gave birth to a son, she saw he was a special child and did her best to hide him for three months. She devised a plan to hopefully save his life by coating a papyrus basket with tar and pitch to waterproof it. She put her baby into it, placed it in the reeds along the bank of the Nile, and positioned her daughter to see what would happen.

God’s timing was perfect, as Pharoah’s daughter soon came to the river to bathe. She saw the basket and sent her servant girl to get it. To her great surprise there was a crying Hebrew baby boy in the basket. She knew the edict that he was supposed to be thrown into the Nile, but she had compassion upon this baby.

Miriam approached the princess to ask if she should bring a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby. Pharoah’s daughter agreed, so Miriam brought her mother. The princess gave her the baby to nurse and return to her after he was weaned.

Jochebed’s bravery not only preserved the life of Moses but also made a way for her to nurture him and teach him about his people and the one true God. When it was time, she gave up her child to the Egyptian princess, surrendering him into the hands of the God she trusted, without knowing what the future would hold for him.

Little did she know that the sorrow of giving up her child once again was for a far greater purpose than she could imagine. For as her people continued to cry out to God to send a deliverer, a day would come when Moses would become that deliverer and God’s purposes for his life would be fulfilled. 

Jochebed wasn’t the only woman in the Bible who gave up her son for a greater purpose. Years later, Mary, a devout teenager, was visited by an angel who told her she would give birth to a son. She was to name him Jesus, and he would be called the Son of the Most High. When the time came for the birth, Mary brought her child into the world in a stable and laid him in a manger. 

Forty days later Joseph and Mary took the baby Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord in the temple. While there, a man named Simeon, who had waited all his life to see the Messiah, approached them. After blessing them, he told Mary that a sword would one day pierce her soul.

This happened 33 years later when Mary stood near a Roman cross watching her son being crucified. This was indeed the Son of God, whose greater purpose was to die for the sin of the world and make a way of salvation for all mankind. 

We never know when our sorrow and suffering will lead to a greater purpose. All we can do is be willing to surrender all to the Lord, trusting that He will not only help us through painful times, but use them for good in some way. Maybe even to fulfill His greater purposes.

Hope Ministries is a Christian counseling center, and we are here to help. If you would like to speak confidentially with someone, give us a call at 845-482-5300.

Hope Ministries is a Christian counseling center, and we are here to help. If you would like to speak confidentially with someone, give us a call at 845-482-5300.