THE UNSEEN HAND

(7-minute read)

THINK OF THE PEOPLE who have made a profound and positive difference in your life. How did their presence change the way you experienced a difficult situation? In all likelihood, these were not people in your usual Christian circles. Maybe they were not even people you knew particularly well or thought were the kind who would help others. How could they have been involved in God’s plans for you? 

Let’s take a look at Moses’ life. From the time he was born, it had so many twists and turns that made it film-worthy. Exodus 1:16-22 tells us that generations after Joseph’s family settled in Egypt, an evil king turned hostile toward the Israelite immigrants there. He put them into forced labour and ordered all Hebrew male babies to be drowned in the River Nile after the midwives refused to be complicit in his nefarious scheme to quietly kill the infants during childbirth. As the sentiments against the Hebrews intensified, God set up several women to preserve Moses’ early life in a series of high-stake events.

Here's an introduction of these women: Firstly, there was Moses’ biological mother, Jochebed, who carried strong maternal instincts and faith in God to release the infant Moses in a papyrus basket along the Nile.

There were also Shiphrah and Puah, the two Hebrew midwives that the king had instructed to kill Hebrew male infants during delivery. But as God-fearing women, they secretly ‘let the boys live’ (Exodus 1:15-17). As astute as they came, they thwarted the king’s plans and attributed their failure to commit infanticide to simple logistical hiccups, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” 

Then, there was Moses’ older sister, Miriam. She simply adored her baby brother and was fully conscious of the increasing risks of keeping him at home as anti-immigrant sentiments grew under the new king. Being quick on her feet, she played a key role in her mother’s scheme to ensure baby Moses lived.

Lastly, there was Pharoah’s unnamed daughter who appeared at the expected time at a section of the River Nile for her private bath. Her maternal instincts and moral courage kicked in the moment she saw the baby Moses crying in a basket nearby.  

Through these women, we can see God’s unseen Hand in Moses' life and the way He orchestrated the  environment, connection and authority to fulfill His purposes

1.The Environment (Read Exodus 2:1-3) 

The environment where God orchestrates His plans is also invariably tied to timing: where we enter or exit a place is crucial. Nothing in our lives happens in a vacuum. It is important to be aware of how God uses different social environments to incubate His plans. From womb to reeds, Moses’ mother kept him safe by first concealing her entire pregnancy, and then hiding him at home for the first three months of his life. When she could no longer hide him, she placed him safely camouflaged among reeds in a floating water-proof basket. 

When Moses was conceived and born did not happen by chance, and when his mother released him among the reeds before he was rescued by Pharaoh's daughter was anything but coincidental. While there was a level of security in place to ensure that Pharaoh's daughter had total privacy and protection from harm when she stepped into the river for a bath, releasing a live infant into the same river exposed him to a host of environmental risks. The basket could flip when the baby kicked. It could be toppled by unpredictable river currents. Vigilant loyalists to the king might find the abandoned infant and dump it into the river. 

So it seemed ironical that the baby had to be released in the very river that the king had ordered babies to be drowned (Exodus 1:22). Yet, it was the only place through which Moses would get to the other side of danger. 

What about you? Are you struggling to immerse yourself in an area where you need to go through to get to where God wants you to be? Moses’ mother, Jochebed, had to contend with her maternal instincts to protect her child and do what she felt was the right thing when she released him into the Nile. Yet, because her child mattered so much to her, she trusted God and embraced the risks. What are the risks you have to face to get to the other side of your fears?

2.The Connection (Read Exodus 2:4-8)

In mysterious ways, God works through all kinds of people - not just Christians. Between the mother’s clever plan to preserve baby Moses and the discovery of the baby by Pharaoh's daughter, someone had to connect these two women. That person was his sister - the nimble Miriam who was as pragmatic as she was good at recognizing the opportunity to make her move with Pharaoh's daughter. 

“His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother.” (Exodus 2:4, 7-8). These verses mentioned the three key women in Moses’ life in quick succession – ‘his sister’, ‘Pharaoh’s daughter’, and ‘the baby’s mother’. If Miriam had not stepped up to speak to Pharaoh's daughter, someone else would have stepped in to nurse the infant instead of his own mother. 

It is a grave error to assume that people – including ourselves - need to be this or that before God conscripts us into His plans. The truth is that God can work through anyone, including those who may not fit into the predictable categories of people we feel at ease with. Young Miriam did not think that Moses had ended up in the wrong hands when Pharaoh's daughter spotted him. She had been keeping an eye on him for a while, quietly watching him from a safe distance, saw and heard everything that followed when he was found, and knew when it was safe for her to emerge and speak up. By instinctively trusting God, she was able to take the necessary risks that the moment called for.

Like Miriam, we can make a huge difference whether someone sinks or swims while going through a difficult situation. But we will never know unless we stay close enough to observe how they are doing, and trust God as we take the initiative to get involved.

3.The Authority (Read Exodus 2:9-10)

We are told in Romans 13:4-5 that God recognizes human authority. There are different types and levels of authority that give people different degree of power to make decisions and take action that affect others. As midwives, Shiphrah and Puah could only make the decision to deliver the Hebrew babies or kill them at birth. Pharaoh's daughter, on the other hand, had the resources to bring up a Hebrew child and keep him far away from the public eye. She could even assign a Hebrew woman to nurse the child she defiantly adopted and raised as her own in spite of her father’s national edict.  

Everyone knows that the different pieces on a chessboard has different strategic power and capabilities that are important to the overall result. In the same way, different people in society have different powers to act for themselves and for others. To deliver the Israelites from hard labour, God moved different people - from midwives to royalties - into different positions to advance His plot. And in the most bizarre plot twist, He reunited baby Moses with his biological mother who nursed him full-time on royal payroll, nurturing and caring for him till he was old enough to return to live in the royal household. 

Effectively, God delivered Moses from the tragedy of infanticide, and moved him into a new environment where there was provision instead of deprivation, protection against destruction, and position instead of desolation. This was undeniably the outcome of the unseen Hand of God upon his life and destiny. 

We, too, can trust in God’s unseen Hand upon our lives and confidently help each other move through whatever environment we are to go through to get to the other side of adversity. For we are reminded in Romans 8:28 “that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” 

This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 18 May 2024.