“but as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to abraham, the people increased and multiplied in egypt until there arose over egypt another king who did not know joseph. he dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. at this time moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. and he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, and when he was exposed, pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. and moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. [acts 7:17-22]
wisdom out of suffering
once again, we see God’s faithfulness in the midst of suffering, but here specifically, we see how God grew moses’ wisdom through his time under pharaoh’s daughter. the training moses received in pharaoh’s house had to be incredibly useful to him as he led israel throughout the desert. and he never would have received that training if it wasn’t for pharaoh persecuting he hebrews.
Lord, teach us to learn from you in the midst of our suffering and persecution. teach us to lead when those above us abuse their authority; teach us to follow when those we lead gossip about us and rebel against us; teach us to love when love is scarce. our flesh cannot do this: please help. please use our persecution to form us into the servants you designed us to be.
~ stephen hall