“What’s in the basket?”

The timing is Egypt, and Pharaoh is killing off all of the male Israelite babies because the “Israelite population is exploding.” One woman of the house of Levi conceived a son, and she knew they would kill him. She took him to the river along with her daughter. She made an ark (basket) of bulrushes, placed her baby in the basket, and sent him on down the river. Read Exodus 2… you know the story. The princess found the baby and took him back to the palace to raise him as her own. She never knew that “what was in the basket,” would save the entire generation of the Jewish people from slaughter.

I can see the old Prophet Samuel as he is getting the sacrifice ready and has invited Jesse, who has seven sons. God is getting ready to replace King Saul, who has disobeyed the Lord. One by one, they pass before Samuel who is thinking, “He’s got to be it!” God is saying, “No, that’s not him.” There are no more sons left that Jesse has brought, except the youngest who is just “taking care of sheep.” Jesse calls for him and God says, “That’s him! I have chosen him to be King over my people, ‘for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Over in Acts, the 9th chapter, Saul, who was once a “killer of the Jews,” has now become a Christian. Now that he has become a Christian, he is preaching about Christ being crucified and how he is “the Son of God!” Now, the Jews and everyone else are out to kill him. “Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a ‘basket’.” (Acts 9:25) Saul went on to write a lot of the New Testament!

God is a great big God! He has plans for our lives. No matter where you come from or your circumstances, He can use you… After all, we never know “what’s in the basket!” Bobby and I had no idea in the world that God would call two poor people like us, with no college education, to go to Haiti and do work for Him. If He can use us, He can use anyone! Sherry