Heroes Look Different Than You Might Think

January 31, 2020

Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too. Exodus 1:15-17 NLT

Sometimes Sunday school stories were frustrating to me. The heroes of the stories seemed very Superman-ish, and I was decidedly more like the sister of Clark Kent. Daniel in the lions’ den was a terrific story, but it made me squirm. Could I EVER do that? Elijah calling out the prophets at Mt. Carmel and facing them down with fire that fell from heaven? Nope. Not me. I could go on and on, but the truth is, I loved all those stories, but the difference between who I was and who they were seemed vast. I couldn’t picture being any of them. I was just too ordinary.

But sometime during my elementary years I ran across a story that really moved me. What made it really special was that the story was about two amazing women. Their names were Shiprah and Puah, and they immediately became big heroes to me. I was pretty sure I would never name my children after them, however. Can you imagine?

Anyway—they were amazing, bold, and brave. They loved babies and they loved God and were committed to doing the right thing. They were midwives who had the task of delivering babies for Hebrew women. The Pharaoh, the king who held them as slaves and had the power of life and death in his hands, commanded them to let the girl babies live and kill the boy babies while they were being born. These two amazing ladies risked their lives to do the right thing! They refused to do it. When they were asked why there were still some boy babies being born on their watch, they crafted an answer that fooled the Pharaoh. That’s absolutely heroic! Behind the scenes, for sure. Almost no one knows their names. They didn’t directly deliver the nation of Israel, but they delivered the baby who grew up to do it, Moses. We all know Moses as a great hero, but in large degrees we owe him to them. Amazing.

Often God’s significant heroes are not flashy. They are ordinary people making godly choices and stepping out to honor God even when no one knows the risk and sacrifice they make. Heroic, ordinary heroes—let us be them, know them, and raise them. That’s the way God loves to work.

• What opportunities is God giving you right now to use your ordinary life to make an extraordinary difference?
• “Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God may not be something you do, but someone you raise.” – Andy Stanley