Antjie

Antjie

Monday 12 August 2013

Fear of God Vs Personal Ambition


I was just reflecting lately on Women who have used their lives to honour God and two obscure women who are became Heroines came to my mind. This two women are seen in Exodus 1:15-20. 

All over scripture we read about people who turned their regular assignment into a vehicle for divine purpose.
In Exodus 1:15-17 we read, “And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.” 
There were too women who were midwives whose names were Shiphrah and Puah. They were women with regular everyday jobs whose role suddenly got recognized by high profile government officials. It was not a minister that recognized them but the King of the nation himself(which is equivalent the president or Prime Minister of the nation). The women suddenly found themselves being brought before the Pharaoh(the king of their nation) and they were given a special task. For most people this a lifetime ambition, not just to be recognized by your immediate boss or the manger or CEO of your company but to the recognized by the ruler of your nation and given a role to play for the President. 

The Lord can give you oppourtunity to come to the very top of the ladder in your profession just to see what your choices will be.

What was their assignment? Exodus 1:16 “And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.” They were to kill every Hebrew male child that was born. Are you a Doctor or Nurse? Do you work in an abortion clinic or hospital? What will you do if you are told to carry out an assignment that conflicts with the Word of God? What will your choices be?

The two women Shiphah and Poar had an opportunity to move forward in their career and use their newly received authority to oppress others, receive bribes, make a name and so on but the Bible tells us that this women put the fear of God first. They were constrained by the fear of God.

How is your fear of God? Not the fear of God when in church service but the fear of the Lord when there is no other believer around and you are on your job. As a child of God and a Woman of Purpose, you must allow divine mandate to over rule personal ambition. Like the two Hebrew midwives we must not let the fear of man push us into putting our hands into things that does not honour God.

The Lord will honour you as you seek to honour Him. Exodus 1:20 “God was good to the two women because they truly respected him, and he blessed them with children of their own. The Hebrews kept increasing.”