Learning to Trust God with My Children

 

The other day, one of my daughters asked me who my favorite Bible character was.

 

Without hesitation, I answered, “Jochebed — Moses’ mother.”

 

At first, that answer may seem a little surprising. Out of all the women in the Bible, why would I choose a mother who is only mentioned for a short time?

 

But the more I have thought about her story through the years, the more I have realized how much courage and faith her life displayed.

 

What has always stood out to me most is this:
In order to save her son, she had to trust God enough to place him near the enemy.

 

At that time, Pharaoh had ordered that all Israelite baby boys were to be killed. Jochebed, with God’s leading, devised a plan to save her baby boy. She crafted a basket, placed Moses inside, and set him among the reeds where Pharaoh’s daughter would eventually find him.

 

It seems almost counterintuitive.  The very place that should have been the most dangerous became the place God used to preserve Moses’ life.

 

As I have thought about this story more deeply, I realize how difficult that must have been for a mother. Jochebed had to trust God enough to release her child into circumstances she could not control.

 

God also used Moses’ sister, Miriam, in a beautiful way. After Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the baby in the basket, Miriam courageously approached her and suggested finding a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, and Moses was sent right back home to his own mother for those early years.

I love that part of the story in which God used a sibling to bring about His will.

 

During that time, Jochebed was able to hold Moses, care for him, and surely teach him about God from a very young age. In those days, children were often not weaned for several years, which means she likely had precious years with him in her home before having to let him go again.

 

Eventually, she did have to send him back to the very household that once wanted him dead.

 

But Jochebed trusted God.

 

Even when the situation looked impossible, God was already working out a greater plan. Moses would one day become the very man God used to lead the Israelites out of bondage and away from their enemy.

 

But first, a mother had to trust God enough to place her child into His hands — even when it meant sending him behind enemy lines.

 

As I write this, I realize this lesson is playing out in my own life right now.

 

This fall, two of my daughters will be starting college, and another daughter is beginning a schooling program I never expected. If I am honest, there are many moments when I want to step in, tell my daughters exactly what to do, and manage every detail for them.

 

But little by little, God has been teaching me to step back and trust Him.

 

It has been amazing to watch my daughters come to me and share how God has provided for them personally. I have loved hearing them talk about the ways He has answered prayers, opened doors, and guided their decisions. More than anything, I have loved watching their own personal faith begin to grow deeper in Him.

 

I have already trained them the best I could. They have seen my successes, but they have also seen my mistakes and learned from those too. And now they are beginning to develop their own courageous relationship with God.

 

What a gift it is as a mother to step back and witness the excitement of seeing your children discover for themselves that God truly is good.

Jochebed’s story challenges me as a mother.

 

How much do I truly trust God with my children? Am I willing to place even the hardest circumstances into His hands? Am I willing to release the control I so desperately want to hold onto and trust that God sees far beyond what I can see?

 

As mothers, we naturally want to protect our children from every hardship, disappointment, and danger. Yet sometimes God asks us to trust Him even when the path feels uncertain or uncomfortable.

 

Jochebed could not see the full story God was writing for Moses’ life. She simply obeyed one step at a time and trusted God with the outcome.

And perhaps that is what God asks of us as parents too — not to control every circumstance, but to faithfully place our children into His hands and trust Him to lead them where He desires.

 

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
— Proverbs 3:5–6

 

In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. – Psalm 56:4