Oh, how I admire Jochebed, the mother of Moses. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy which should have been a joyous occasion, but instead she was forced to hide him away. Pharaoh had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys be thrown into the Nile River. By faith, Jochebed and her husband hid their son for three months and were not afraid of the king’s command. God shared His plan with Jochebed and she trusted Him. This plan seemed somewhat ridiculous, she was to place her precious baby in the same river where many were being thrown to their deaths.
As I was praying for my children one morning, God showed me that I was weaving baskets. Scripture says that Jochebed “took” an ark (or basket) of bulrushes, but I like to believe that she wove that basket with her own hands. She also covered that basket in asphalt and pitch before placing her son inside. After it was covered and sealed, she laid her baby boy in the reeds of the crocodile and snake infested river. God used this river that was meant to be a death sentence to save Moses which led to the salvation and freedom of God’s people.
I can imagine Jochebed crying and praying and trusting her God as she carefully wove and covered this basket. This world is wicked and perverse and it’s very tempting to hover over our children. As mothers, I truly believe we are not to hover, but to cover. Hovering involves fear, worry, and anxiety. Covering involves prayer, fasting, and trusting. Our God hears our cries for our children and He loves them more than we ever could. Covering is choosing to pray and trust when we are tempted to fear and worry. With each prayer we are weaving and covering more and more of their baskets.
Instead of bulrushes, we are weaving prayer and the Word of God all around our children. Our prayers are incense kept in golden bowls ever before God’s throne. We pray for our children and we pray over our children. Let them hear their mothers calling their names out to God and declaring His good and perfect plans over them. We pour the Word of God into our children. We speak the Word of God over our children. His truth shall lead them, keep them, and speak with them. His truth makes them free and reveals their true identity. Instead of asphalt and pitch, we are covering them in the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus heals, protects, saves, and delivers. They are surrounded!
Daniel, who was taken captive to Babylon was immersed in pagan culture. The king even changed Daniel’s name in an attempt to destroy his identity, but Daniel remained faithful to his God. Daniel had purposed in his heart not to defile himself. Daniel must have had some praying parents who covered him in God’s truth and promises.
I imagine our children as Daniels. Even though they may be immersed in this crocodile and snake infested world with all the schemes and temptations of the enemy, we don’t have to be afraid because they are covered in the baskets of our prayers, the Word of God, and the blood of Jesus.
We recently found a bird’s nest with 3 precious babies inside. This nest was unlike any nest I have ever seen. The mama bird had woven a snake skin into the nest!
Her babies were surround by the remnants of something known to inflict harm, even death upon them. I have come to realize that I cannot spare my children from all the temptations of this world, I cannot keep them in a bubble their whole lives. But... I can cover them in prayer, I can pour the Word of God into them, I can plead the blood of Jesus over them, and I can declare who they are in Christ over them daily. Whatever the enemy tries to throw their way to inflict harm, we will simply take it up and keep weaving like this mama bird. We keep weaving and believing that whatever the enemy means for harm, God will turn it around and use it for good. Just as young David took the sword of Goliath, the giant and used it against him, we too take up the weapon the enemy meant for harm and use it to slay giants. We keep praying, we keep declaring, we keep trusting, we keep covering and we keep on weaving.
