(Sometimes when you explore, you discover things you might not have noticed before. Other times you find a new appreciation for the familiar. Exodus has both kinds of treasures.)
But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live. Exodus 1:17
There is tremendous cultural pressure
Pressing down on us
Constantly
From all sides–
Pressure to accept
To assimilate
To allow.
Other times, there’s pressure to violate our commitment,
To conform,
To consent.
Sometimes it’s pressure to deny
To distance
To downplay.
The midwives faced a pressure
From the pharaoh himself–
Kill the boy babies.
But they feared God
MORE than they feared the pharaoh.
Under pressure it’s nearly impossible
NOT to give in to your fear.
But FEAR OF GOD
Gives us COURAGE TO STAND
And SPEAK OUT
Especially when cultural pressure demands
We sit down
And shut up.