Divine Positioning!

“But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s mother.” Ex 2:3-8 NIV

Reading through this encounter again, I could not but marvel at how God guides, orders our affairs and positions us to fit into His own plans and purpose. It had been ordained that the person whom God would use to lead His people out of Egypt was to be born and raised nowhere else than in Egypt itself. To make it more wonderful, he was trained within the palace of Pharaoh with the resources of Egypt. What an awesome God!

Moses came on the scene at the time a decree had gone out to kill all male children at the same time he was born. Moses fit into the qualification of children to be killed; but he was divinely exempted. His mother was very sensitive and courageous to have nursed a new baby with all the day and night cries of adjusting to life on Earth. Often times, I wonder how Jochebed, the mother of Moses, could have kept the baby such that no soldier heard his cry despite their patrols. I suppose Jochebed herself must have gone into hiding when her pregnancy was getting to term; otherwise, some people could have let the cat out of the bag, that she was expecting a baby and when she finally had the baby, they could have come to check which gender the baby was. Jochebed by the help of God, put her life at stake for her baby. Placing the baby in a tarred basket and placing him on the river Nile was a great risk but another major step of faith. While she may be waiting to see what would become of her baby, she must have been calling on Yahweh, to preserve the child. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone the length of decorating a basket; she could have just placed him anywhere along the road. Why did she choose the river of all places? The divine Hand of God must have been guiding her actions!

What actually touched me so much in this passage is the fact that after the baby was placed on the river, the first person that came across the basket was the daughter of Pharaoh. She sighted the basket and did not ignore it. She sent her servant to bring it. As I meditated more on this, I saw that any other person could have been the first to get to the river, saw and picked the baby. It could have been one of the Kings officials or palace staff; it could have been a person with a mean personality who at sighting the baby, would arrange for him to be killed instantly. But God positioned the daughter of Pharaoh to be the first to see baby Moses.

Divine positioning is key as we journey on in life and purpose

Another significant thing was the fact that when she opened the basket and saw a baby crying, she was moved with compassion. This was the daughter of the king who had issued a decree that all male babies born to the Israelites be killed. She must have heard enough instructions in the palace to poison her mind against the Hebrews- the people they thought were growing strong and becoming a threat to Egypt. She could have sent for one of the palace guards to come take the baby away to be killed but none of these happened. She rather had compassion for the baby and spoke a word of deliverance to the destiny of Moses. The voice of Pharaoh’s daughter was a voice of deliverance; her voice shut the door against the death that was hanging on all the male babies at that time. It is important to note that there are voices that open the door for the enemy to get access into the lives of people; utterances or statements that people make, to grant access for satanic opportunities, operations and manipulations. Words matter so much, and how they are released equally do. I rejoice that the words spoken by Pharaoh’s daughter did not open the door for the sword of the enemy to cut him off.

In this story, I can see divine positioning in place. Moses was divinely positioned in a place where help could reach him; the daughter of Pharaoh was divinely positioned to be at the river right on time before any other person could locate the baby; she was positioned to speak kindly and compassionately rather than harshly and judgmentally to the destiny of the child. Mariam, the sister was divinely positioned to watch after the baby when she could have chosen to go and play with her friends; Jochebed, the mother of Moses, was divinely positioned to nurse the child and instill some information about the Hebrews and their God into Moses.

Divine positioning is key as we journey on in life and purpose- places we must be, the right timing, the right people and helpers of destiny that we must meet or that must sight/meet us; the right words spoken to facilitate help unto us, at the right time; likewise, the right words we speak to facilitate deliverance and help unto others. We must meet people with hearts of compassion who, instead of opening the door for the enemy to get at us, will rather facilitate our escape from destruction.

May the Hand of God direct our paths in life; granting us divine positioning that moves us more and more into destiny fulfilment. May the LORD shut the door against every stage set or every word spoken for the enemy to get at us. May God position destiny helpers along our paths in life and position us, equally, to facilitate help to the destiny of others. May we be divinely positioned for help and favor! Amen!

©Funmi Adebayo