God Can Do Far More Than All We Imagine

<Ex 2> 1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

God can do more than we imagine – Three amazing developments:

1) Moses hidden successfully for 3 months!

• Many eyes watching, Pharaoh had ordered all his people to kill Hebrew male babies <Ex 1:22>.
• But the time to let go and trust God came…they could no longer hide…
• [Standalone slide] “…beautiful connection which should always exist between the diligent use of means and a pious trust in providence. Instead of sitting down in sullen despair, or passive dependence on divine interposition to do all the work, everything is done which can be done by human agency.” – Walter Kaiser Jr. quoting George Bush.
• Do what we can by faith in God, and when nothing can be done further, let go and trust God.

2) Moses adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter!

• Unimaginable reversal and irony:
  • The father’s scheme spoiled by own daughter.
  • The baby Pharaoh aimed to kill ended up being a royal member of his household.
  • Not only was Moses not killed, but he also enjoyed the best protection, privileges and training right in the palace of the one who ordered his death.
    • <Ac 7:22> : “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians”

3) Moses’ birth mother got paid for doing what she yearned to do most – nurse her own son!

• More importantly, as Moses’ mother nursed him, she could teach him about God and His covenant.

Though God was not explicitly being mentioned, He was working silently and faithfully.

• Nothing happened by chance.
• Even if we are unaware of God’s involvement, God is faithfully and quietly making all things work for the good of those who love Him <Ro 8:28>.
• Pause and confirm.

God’s faithful providence demands our unwavering faith.

1) If God’s power is so dependable, then any unbelief is to be rebuked.

• Even if your faith has been small, “the last can become the first”, so don’t give up just yet.

2) God will reward those who trust in Him.

• <Heb 11:23> By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
• Fear of God makes a person fearless of other things.
• What is impossible to man is possible with God.

Reflection:

1. Share your experience of God’s unseen providence. Did something first appear to you as if “it just so happens” (by chance), but later you realised it was actually God at work?
2. Have you ever encountered God doing more than you imagined? How had God proven you wrong when you acted by fear instead of faith? How had God surprised you when you trusted God against all odds?