Great Faith - Wanda Cape
My name is Wanda Cape and I have been happily married to the World’s Greatest Pastor, Steve Cape, for 37 years. We have been serving the Lord at the Hillside Baptist Church in Hixson, TN, for the past 22 years. After almost losing our lives on our honeymoon in a near drowning experience, we surrendered to the Lord and His will with whatever He had planned for our lives. The Lord blessed our family with three beautiful daughters. Perhaps you have prayed for our oldest daughter, Heather who has had serious health issues for the past 26 years. If so, we would like to thank you for the prayers for her and our family. She is currently doing wel! The Lord has been very good to our family, and we praise Him for His love! I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts with you, and I pray that you will be helped and encouraged.
Can you imagine with me for a minute how it must have been in the days of Jochebed? I imagine that she faced some extremely hard times. As you will discover in the book of Exodus chapter 1, the wicked King, Pharaoh, had just instructed the Hebrew midwives to slay the male children of the Hebrew women. When Pharaoh discovered that the midwives were not killing the boy children, as he had instructed, he charged all his people to cast every son of the Hebrew women into the river.
Now Jochebed was with child during the reign of Pharaoh, and for 9 months, she must have wondered what would happen if her child was a boy, and if he would be the next one slain. You know there were no ultrasounds back in the day, and she lived with this burden every day. I imagine that Jochebed immediately began planning what she would do if her child was a boy. I believe she asked the Lord for wisdom of what to do when her child was ready to be delivered, and then she acted on her faith. She came up with a plan. For three months she hid her son until she could no longer hide him, and then she made him a basket of bulrushes, daubed it with slime and pitch, put her male son, Moses, in the basket, and placed him in the flags by the brink of the river, as told in Exodus Chapter 2. Wow! What faith! The Lord mentions the faith of Jochebed and her husband in Hebrews 11:23, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents . . .” Her child was three months old, yet, she placed him in the river in a basket and trusted the Lord for His protection. I’m sure she was anxious and unsure if she was doing the right thing, yet, she trusted the Lord to take care of her child. Moses parents had an incredible amount of faith and trust in their God.
We all know that the America of today, is not the same America we grew up knowing. Though “She” is still a great Country, “She” is not the America we knew. It is so disturbing to hear of the news of today. There is so much crime and injustice in our Country, and Bible believing Christians are being mocked and ridiculed now more than ever! Can you imagine for a minute how people reacted to the command of Pharaoh. Some must have cheered and others were appalled by the command. But even through this, God used a little lady by the name of Jochebed who acted and responded with wisdom. We all must realize that just as Jochebed faced hard times, we, too, are being faced with things that are just as unbelievable.
Each of us, whether we’ve been saved for years or saved recently, have a huge target on our back, and so does every person in our family and Church family. The beliefs from the Word of God that we hold true to today, are under attack. It may not be long until we face such horrific laws as was in the day of Jochebed. We must have the faith that she had, and the strength to stand and obey God rather than man. We must continue to hold on to the truths of God’s Word; the truths that make us who we are.
The past 21 years, we have had a lot of folks come through the doors of our Church and get saved. Some will live for the Lord for a short season, but then when that season ends, they fall by the wayside. Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” The reason folks fall away is that they decide they will no longer walk therein. You see, the Christian life isn’t just for a season, it’s for a life! It’s walking in His ways, the good way, EVERYDAY! Jochebed continued walking in His way.
Just recently, we have seen person after person who got saved at our church, return to the place where they found peace and contentment; the Church. Though their lives are a wreck, can I tell you what they are looking for when they return to the Church? They are looking for the people who were standing and walking in the good way when they left. Sure, they may have ridiculed the folks at the Church for the beliefs they walked away from, but it is for sure that they don’t want those who were strong in the Lord to change. They expect to find the church folks still believing the way they used to believe. They expect that when they come back for a visit, for us to be there still doing what we were doing when they left. No matter what ungodly laws may be passed tomorrow, we must keep our faith strong in the Lord!
All around us is indecency, vulgarity, murder of innocent children, unrighteous living, etc. Jochebed must have faced some of the same issues that we are faced with. It is hard to imagine, but things will become even more corrupt before the Lord returns. In fact, there could come a day for us when a law is passed, and we are faced with a choice such as Jochebed. Will we obey God, or man? If we are going to keep standing, we MUST continue to protect ourselves from being conformed to this world. Let’s keep standing. Let’s continue walking in God’s Word. Let’s continue staying in the House of God. Let’s continue staying tenderhearted toward the lost. Let’s continue to keep our music honoring and glorifying to God. Let’s continue protecting our eyes with what we see. Let’s continue protecting our ears with what we hear. Let’s continue to stand!
May it be said of us that we had great faith like Jochebed. It’s amazing to me how the Lord orchestrated what would happen when she placed Moses by the brink of the river. Jochebed did not know if she would ever see her child again. It just so happens that Moses sister, Miriam was close by watching what would take place. Pharaoh's daughter finds the baby, and she knows that he is one of the Hebrews’ children, so Miriam asks if she shall go and call a nurse of the Hebrew women to nurse the child, and she said “go.” So Miriam goes to get Moses mother, Jochebed, to nurse her son, and Jochebed even gets paid to do so. Wow, what a story! Look how the Lord blessed the faith of a little lady who continued to stand in her faith even in the midst of her trouble. Let’s don’t change, let’s keep standing!