The summer after my oldest son graduated from high school, he took a job in the christian music industry in Nashville, TN that was a nine hour drive from us. Heck, I felt like he just started remembering to change his underwear daily, on a roll with choosing matching clothes, and being adventurous extending his food choices beyond microwavable mac & cheese. Now he was on his own?!? “How is he going to survive?” I thought.
Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 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. 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. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 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.— Exodus 2:1-5
The pharaoh of Egypt had decreed that all the Hebrew boy babies were to be drowned at birth. When Moses’ mother gave birth, she hides her son to protect him from soldiers. However, after a few months, she decides to place him in a basket along the sides of the Nile river with the hope that he will be found and adopted by Egyptian. Moses is found by the Pharaoh’s daughter, who, get this, chooses Moses’ mother to care for him!
Letting go of a person or a problem is hard to do.
- Moving houses– how am I going to pack & do this?
- Troubled Teen– how is she going to see the consequences of her decisions?
- Succession plan– how am I going to turn my company over to another?
- Missions trip– how can I make a difference?
So often when a stresser comes we try to hold on to it and solve it ourselves. And in the process, we tend to shift our focus from the what to the how. You see, I think God’s way begins with the what—what He wants me to do which requires obedience to the assignment on my part and then together we’ll deal with the how along the way. I have to let go of control to concentrate on my what. It’s a defining moment in one’s life when you say “You’re the boss Jesus not me” so I am going to trust you with my how.
Moses’ birthmother stayed focused on her what of caring for her child by trying to put him in a better situation. She trusted God with her how– that He would somehow provide security for her child in His way.
Are you struggling with control today? God says trust me with your how. I got this.
Reflection |
What are you doing to stay focused on your what?