Mama, Take Back Your Joy From AnxietySýnishorn

Besides the pandemic, 2020 was an anxious year for me.

I. Could. Not. Watch. The. News.

The truth is there will always be ugliness in this world until the day Jesus comes again (come, Jesus, come). Satan will continue to corrupt this world every chance he can get. I don’t mean to sound depressing over here, but it’s the reality of the fallen world in which we live. As mamas in this terrifying world, we have two things to give us hope.

The first is Jesus will return and He will defeat Satan (Rev. 20:10). When He returns, there will be no more pain, no more death, and no more crying. Everything will be made new, and what a glorious day it will be when God will dwell with His people again as He always intended!

The second piece of hope is the knowledge of God’s character and His promises. We have a God who is our refuge and strength (Ps. 46:1), who has plans for us (Prov. 19:21), who will fight for us (Deut. 3:22), who is faithful (Ps. 33:4), who is our help and our shield (Ps. 33:20), and who is the God of peace (Judg. 6:24).

Let’s take a look at a mama in the Bible who was dealing with fear as her baby’s life was literally in danger. Long ago, in the land of Egypt, there was a new king who feared the Israelite people because of how many there were and how powerful they were becoming. He ordered midwives to start killing any Hebrew boys as they were born; but because those midwives feared God, they didn’t obey Pharaoh’s order. So Pharaoh ordered that every son born to the Hebrews be thrown into the Nile River. This is where we meet Jochebed.

Jochebed was the mother of Moses. I’m sure you’ve heard of him, and he doesn’t need an introduction here, but if not, you can follow along with me in the beginning of the book of Exodus. When Pharaoh ordered all male Hebrew babies to be thrown into the Nile, Jochebed hid her baby for three months. When it became too difficult to hide him anymore, she made a plan to save her baby from being killed. Jochebed got a papyrus basket, which she coated with tar and pitch. (Noah used pitch to coat the inside and outside of the ark to help it float—­not really related to my point, but it shows how detailed Jochebed was and how she knew what to do.) She was very precise in how she orchestrated this plan. She laid the baby in the reeds of the river where she knew the basket would not drift away. She then had Moses’s sister, Miriam, watch from a distance to see what would happen.

Pharaoh’s daughter began to bathe herself in the river and she saw the basket in the reeds. When she saw Moses lying there, crying, she felt sorry for him. Miriam approached Pharaoh’s daughter and asked if she should go find a Hebrew woman who was nursing so the baby wouldn’t starve, and Pharaoh’s daughter consented. Miriam got her mother, Jochebed, to nurse her very own baby. Jochebed didn’t get to raise her own baby, but her child’s life was spared. Not only did he get to live, but he eventually became the leader who led the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt and wrote the first five books of the Bible. And what did Jochebed do?

She laid her baby in a basket and trusted God to do the rest.

We can’t live in the fear of tomorrow. We can only hold on to the One who knows the future. Isaiah 41:10 tells us,

So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

God may tell us not to be afraid hundreds of times in the Bible, but a lot of the time He’ll add “for I am with you” or some sort of comforting reminder that He’s right beside us through it all. He’s constantly reminding us of His presence. He’s not saying we can’t be afraid; it’s a human emotion we all experience. He’s saying when we are afraid, He will strengthen and help us—­no matter what.

He’s not going anywhere.