THE HEART OF COMPASSION

 DECEMBER 10, 2022

Exodus 2:6

“She… saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said.”

The Israelites are being oppressed by the Egyptians. Even so, Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, is worried that if they keep multiplying, they will overthrow him. Pharaoh tells his people to throw every baby boy born to the Israelites into the River Nile.

A  baby boy is born to a certain Israelite woman, but she manages to hide him for 3 months. When she can no longer hide him, she makes a bassinet-boat, lays him in it, and puts it among the reeds at the river’s shore. Pharaoh’s daughter finds the baby in the basket among the reeds, and as he starts to cry, her heart melts, even though she recognizes him as one of the very babies that her father wants killed.

That moment. That moment Pharaoh’s daughter felt something pure and good within her heart, but understood something dreadful in her mind…what was that like for her I wonder? Was she conflicted about what to do? Obey her father's edict or rescue this tiny Israelite baby. What to do, what to do!

Have you ever had this kind of conflict within yourself? I find it very interesting how God used someone who didn’t even seem to know him, who came from a family that actively worked against him and his people, to achieve his purpose. God used a women with a compassionate heart to save Moses and in that very moment, continued his purposes and plan. God’s great story continued. This story would continue with a baby born in Bethlehem who would teach us compassion in a new way, compassion even in the midst of violence and brokenness.

How might God use your compassion?