January 12, 2022
Praying Believers,
Thank you for praying today for our prodigals and for revival.
While faith cannot be transferred from parent to child, a parent’s faith can have a huge impact on a child’s life. It certainly did on mine!
While I have many memories of my parents’ faith in action, recently I learned about another time when my parents’ faith touched the heart of a teen. Rhoda Griffin shared this memory:
When I was 17 years old, Mr. and Mrs. Joyce were traveling through Portage La Prairie, MB, where we were living in my teen years, and they happened to stay with us overnight. My dad [her mother was home in heaven] gave up his room for them, because we didn’t have a dedicated guest room, and his room happened to be across the hall from mine. In the morning as I was quickly getting ready for school, got dressed, used the washroom etc, I made one last dash out the bedroom to race down the stairs for school. But as I passed my dad’s door, I came to a screeching halt, backed up, and stood there frozen for a long moment. I hadn’t meant to look in the room, but the door was open as I had passed it. There, kneeling at the bed were Mr. and Mrs. Joyce, locked in prayer. The sight of it just startled me. I don’t know why I was so taken by that vision of the two of them praying, but it made a deep impression on me as a 17-year-old girl, and I can still recall that memory in an instant. I couldn’t help but think, what a godly couple these people must be. And then in the next instant I was down the stairs and out the door.
When you grow up in this type of environment, it leaves lasting impressions.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “The first lesson for a child should be concerning his mother’s God. Teach him what you will, if he learns not the fear of the Lord, he will perish for lack of knowledge.” This is what Moses had.
“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” (Hebrews 11:23 NIV).
They saw his potential and they acted in faith.
Recently, after watching The Fellowship of the Ring with Rachel and the girls, we discussed the significance of the conversation between Gandalf and the hobbit Frodo (the ring bearer), as they were going through the tombs of Moria.
Frodo said, “I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf replied, “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, in which case you also were meant to have it and that is an encouraging thought.”
There are things that are not for us to decide, but we all have a choice as to what to do with the time given to us.
The parents of Moses, Amram, and Jocebed lived in perilous times. They were captives of cruel slavery, and under the decree of death. They did not choose the evil times in which they lived, but decided to put their faith in God, which in turn had direct relevance in the lives of their children.
What did they do? It wasn’t a great, spectacular feat, but rather a mundane activity that was done by faith. They hid their son for 3 months. They did it by faith! Try hiding your baby from searching authorities for 3 months. It must have been a very difficult task.
As parents, we must not forget that the enemy is out for our children. Whatever state the world may be in at present, we need to simply live by faith and seek to protect them from the influences of darkness.
By faith they saw that Moses was not ordinary. It wasn’t that he was born with superpowers or any special giftedness, but, rather, they recognized that God had a special purpose for their son.
All our sons and daughters, whether little or grown, have a divine claim upon their lives. As parents, we have the advantage of helping our children in this. Even if you don’t have children, you can still impact the younger ones for God by loving them well and being a compelling example of how wonderful it is to follow Jesus. Faith enables us to see the value and potential of every life.
The last statement about Moses' parents in verse 23 is that they were not afraid of the king’s edict. This doesn’t mean they didn’t have times of anxiety or stress. Nor does it mean that they never had a tinge of fear as soldiers passed their doors. It means that they chose to put their faith in a greater king than the one on Egypt’s throne.
They had faith in God; therefore, they did not allow fear to control their lives. Whatever circumstances may be present in your life, continue to bring your fears to God, continue to put your faith in Him, and continue to allow His peace to fill your heart.
Love in Christ,
Bryan and Rachel