Faith in the Dark

A few months ago, my mother, father, and cousin tested positive for COVID-19. My brother and I nursed them while at home, taking precautions.

What we thought would last a few days, however, carried on for weeks. As my cousin recovered, my father and mother became weaker by the day until my father was hospitalized and put on oxygen. Both my parents had high blood pressure, so we were not sure they would survive. One evening I could not pray but only had tears running down my cheeks. As I turned the pages of my Bible, searching for some encouragement, I came across Exodus 2:1, 2. The background of this story is that the Israelites were in Egyptian bondage, and the king ordered his people to drown the Israelite baby boys in the river. He wanted to control the number of Israelites because he saw them as a threat to his kingdom. One brave Jewish woman, however, took the risk of hiding her baby son for three months. Every single day Jochebed found a way to hide baby Moses, unsure when her secret would be discovered. Her focus was not on what would happen next but on taking care of her son and ensuring he was safe.

She did this for three whole months until she could not hide him anymore, but she never gave up. In verses 3 and 4, we are told that she made an ark of bulrushes, asphalt, and pitch into which she placed the baby and set it among the reeds by the riverbank (NKJV). She then instructed his sister to watch over him. What determination! To cut my long story short, I determined, like Jochebed, to do everything in my power to take care of my parents while trusting their future to God. Every single day we served them and prayed for them, and by God’s grace, my parents eventually recovered. In life, we will encounter challenges that seem to have no solution. But like Jochebed, even though the future seems dark, we can pray and work with determination and faith in God. He is with us, and He has promised never to leave or abandon us (see Hebrews 13:5). “ ‘For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My favor will not be removed from you, . . .’ says the LORD who has compassion on you” (Isaiah 54:10, NASB).

Precious Chitwa