Editorial April 6, 1992 Issue

"God's disposal of events"

Elaine Natale

It isn't always easy to size up events right away. But later, with a higher spiritual perspective brought to them, we notice things we hadn't seen earlier.

Take the story of Moses, in the book of Exodus. His mother looked for a way to shelter him, as an infant, from the murderous intent of Pharaoh. Her highest sense of God's guidance was to put her baby in a basket—a little ark—and set it in the reeds near the edge of the river. Notwithstanding the threatening circumstances, how risky that action could seem; how unprotected the baby may have appeared. Yet an amazing series of events unfolded which this trusting mother couldn't have predicted or imagined. Pharaoh's daughter found the child and made special provisions for his care. As it turned out, Moses' own mother was chosen to nurse him. The seemingly vulnerable infant, marked for death, was to grow up in Pharaoh's household, eventually to play a pivotal role in the history of mankind's moral and spiritual development.

As we read the epic—tracing Moses' experience over decades—we realize with deepening interest that this isn't simply a record of a remarkable man. It is a record of God's infinite love and care coinciding with human need. We notice the coming together of experiences that enabled Moses to see how he could lead the children of Israel out of captivity. We see perfect, step-by-step preparation—not always pleasant and comfortable, but needed lessons that gave him the necessary wisdom and courage to know exactly what to do at each and every juncture. From a later perspective the dovetailing and timing of everything are stunning.

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