By the River's Brink - Cathy Sandiford

By the River’s Brink

Exodus 2:3

Lately, I have been thinking about Jochebed, the mother of Moses. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about her. Just like all mothers, surely, she had a dream for how she would raise her children. She didn’t have an easy life, but she had a little family and ways of loving and training her children for the Lord. I wonder, did she plan in detail how she would raise them and teach them about the Lord and life. Was she preparing them to have the right attitude about their suffering? Did she have a plan to try to ease their hurts as they grew that would bring them closer to God so they wouldn’t stray away from him in bitterness? Did she have their stages of life planned to teach them and train them up in the Lord so when the transition to adulthood came, she could say that she had done her best and provided all she could before she had to let them go?

Now imagine her building a small ark-or basket of bulrushes so that at just 3 months of age she would place her child and put the basket by the river’s brink. She had no chance to prepare him for life; no teachings, no trainings, and no years of love. Without any preparation she was at the end of her way and her dreams. She had to stop trusting in herself, her ways, and her ideas for training her child. She placed him at the river’s brink and had to put complete trust in God that He would draw him out.

Some things I learned about Jochebed:

 According to Exodus 1:22 Moses, being born a son, should have been cast into the river to die.

Jochebed had faith to place him by the river’s brink with the hope of life.

 Jochebed placed him in the basket, prayed, and watched closely believing God would answer her prayer.

 Jochebed had to let go of her plans, dreams, and expectations - and trust God.

 God blessed Jochebed for her faith.

Having a special needs child has brought us to the river’s brink more times than we like. We have reached the end of many dreams and had to place our daughter in a basket and lay her by the river’s brink and pray for God draw her out.

When she was age 5 and she didn’t know her colors, letters, numbers, or even the names of animals, we had to realize that we had a problem that we could not fix. I had to let go of my plans and expectations of how things should be. My way of teaching wasn’t working. What I thought was the right way- the best way- only brought us to the river. We put her in the basket, brought her to the river’s brink- and prayed God would draw her out. I wonder if Jochebed said of Moses, “My child will never go in that river!” I said it. Because of fear, I would never take my child to there for help. Of course, that was the very place God drew her out.

When she wanted a career in childcare, but we “knew” she would never receive her high school diploma, we put her in the basket and brought her back to the river’s brink. Our way wasn’t working. We needed God’s way.

When she wanted to drive, well, we ran her basket to the river’s brink. We didn’t even attempt to think we knew what to do there! Of course, God was faithful.

When she had to pass all the Florida State testing, you guessed it, it happened at the river’s brink. It was always coming to the end of our way and taking steps we knew would never work but trusting God to draw her out.

We kept coming to a place of impossibility, the end of our knowledge and ability-the river’s brink and God kept drawing her out.

Do you ever imagine Jochebed’s joy at the river when Moses was drawn out? I imagine it when I think of my own joy.

 The joy when my daughter read her first word at age ten. It was the word “mom.”

 The joy I felt when she graduated from high school.

 The joy of seeing her walk across a college graduation stage with an honors rope hanging on her neck.

 The joy of passing not one state test but 5!

 And now the joy of seeing her go to work and love on children in a childcare center every day.

Have you reached the end of your way and don’t know what to do or even how to start? That’s okay.

You might be right where God wants you to be to trust him. Get your basket ready, take it to the river’s brink and watch God draw it out.