Hiding

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because . . . they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

HEBREWS 11:23

BY FAITH MOSES’ PARENTS HID HIM FROM THE WRATH OF Pharaoh. Normally, we think of hiding as cowardly, as an act of fear. But when it comes to our children, hiding them can be a tremendous act of brave faith.

The Bible tells us there is one who seeks our children’s downfall every bit as much as Pharaoh sought the death of Moses: the devil, Satan (1 Peter 5:8). As spiritually attuned parents, it is our calling, our duty, and our responsibility to “hide” our children from this nemesis. In fact, Peter tells us to be “alert” to the devil’s schemes. While some go overboard and focus on Satan too much, most of us moderns probably fall into the other extreme—failing to recognize his schemes or even acknowledge his existence.

Let me be blunt: Satan hates your children. He wants nothing more than to see them waste their lives, rebel against God, and cause untold heartache and pain during the short lives they spend on this earth. If he can’t steal their salvation, at least he wants to keep them from becoming productive, reproducing members of God’s church. The future of God’s work on this earth depends on believing children who will speak up with courage, faith, and integrity. Where you see a baby, Satan sees a sworn enemy of his rebellion against God.

And yet, how often do we throw our children into Satan’s path unprepared? We assume they’ll absorb biblical teaching without any explicit effort on our part to ensure solid theological grounding. We give more thought to how they’ll get to school than to who is teaching them (and what they are being taught). Since we don’t guard their associations, we allow them to get together with whomever, whenever, wherever. We let them watch movies with horrendous messages, as long as there aren’t “too many” bad words and its sexuality isn’t “too explicit.”

In fact, some would say that to even think about hiding our children is to give way to fear and to be overprotective (and maybe you thought just that when you read the opening paragraphs of this devotion)—but when Moses’ parents hid him, the biblical writer recounts it as an act of great faith, not fear. Perhaps we’ve gone too far in the other direction, so fearful of oversheltering our children that we neglect the very real danger that full, unhindered exposure to this world can cause.

We hide our children in spiritually healthy ways by praying for them, by monitoring what and whom they see, and by warning them. The “hiding level” changes, of course, as they mature, but even when they get placed in harm’s way, we must give them all they need to confront the enemy of their souls. I remember a recent conversation with my teenage son about pornography, now that he has access to the Internet. “Champ,” I said, “pornography is sort of like smoking. Even if you stop smoking, your lungs will still bear the marks of that poison, because you get only one pair of lungs. The same is true of your mind. If you fill up your brain with that stuff, God may forgive you, but you’re impacting the only mind you’ll ever have. Keep it pure. Keep it fresh. God has a reason for telling us to flee from sexual immorality of any kind.”

Hiding isn’t based in fear; it’s based in faith. I wish I had the space to quote all of Psalm 91, but let’s focus on just the first three verses (though I recommend you read the whole psalm later):

Whoever who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you

from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

We Christians are blessed with a hiding place refuge that is as beautiful and wondrous as it is secure: the shelter of the Most High, the shadow of the Almighty. We needn’t live by fear; on the contrary, because of God’s provision we live with the steady confidence that when we do our part, God will do his. For the time will surely come when we can no longer hide our children, when it’s no longer appropriate to shelter them, when our children must face the world head-on, with all its temptations and traps.

It felt a bit unnerving for my wife and me to send our son off to public school after nine years of homeschooling, but we did our best to make sure he was prepared—including having him read a book I’m happy to recommend (How to Stay Christian in High School by Steve Gerali), engaging in a lot of conversation with him, and offering up a lot of prayers for him. The conversations continue—when issues come up, we spend time discussing them in light of God’s Word. Even while unleashing him into the world, we seek to “hide” him in God’s truth, wisdom, and revelation.

Parents, be vigilant. The world is not a safe place where children can wander unprotected and unwatched. Your child, born of Christian parents, has an implacable, anti-Christian enemy. But also be encouraged. When we hide our children in the shelter of the Most High, in the very shadow of the Almighty, we need not be afraid. We must be vigilant, but our alertness stems from the confidence we have in a mighty God who works with us to raise godly children for the sake of his kingdom.

Is your child in a dangerous place? Rescue him. Is your child unduly influenced by a harmful antagonist? Rescue her. Let’s warn them of the enemy, but encourage them with the comfort and confidence of seeking refuge in the shadow and the shelter of the Almighty. By faith let’s hide our children while we still can.

Heavenly Father, guide us as we seek to protect our children. Help us to find that line of speaking up when appropriate and knowing when to let go. Be our light, our counselor, and our helper as we seek to protect and prepare our children for the life ahead. In Jesus’ name, amen.