Here is a devotion to start your day!
Also available now at Power, Love & Miracles:
Unassuming Heroes of the Bible: The Empty Tomb. Introduction
The Women Who Stayed. The Bible Unplugged podcast, episode 70
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The Hero: Miriam by the Nile River
A watchful big sister positioned for the right words at the right time
Scripture: Exodus 2:1–10
His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him.
Reflection
It’s one thing to trust God for your own life.
It’s another to watch your baby brother float away in a basket.
Miriam stands among the reeds, eyes fixed on that little pitch-covered ark carrying her brother down the Nile. She is young, but she already carries the weight of responsibility. She’s old enough to understand the danger, old enough to feel the ache in her mother’s tears.
So, she does something vital and often overlooked: she stays close.
She doesn’t drag the basket back out of the water. She can’t change Pharaoh’s law. She can’t control who will find him. But she can watch. She can wait. She can stay near enough to respond when the moment comes.
And when Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the crying baby, Miriam steps forward with bold, practical wisdom: “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?”
Right words. Right time. Right place.
Some of the most sacred work you do may look like waiting in the reeds—staying close to a situation you can’t fix, a loved one you can’t control, a story you can’t rewrite. You pray. You watch. You stay nearby. Your heart aches, and sometimes you wonder if what you’re doing even matters.
Miriam reminds you that watchful presence is not wasted. God often uses those who are willing to wait near the pain so they can respond when grace opens a door.
Your role may not be to push or pull, but simply to be ready—to speak a gentle word, offer a practical help, or point to the One who saves.
Hidden heroes often stand in the background… until the moment comes when God says, “Now.”
Centering Prayer
Lord,
I bring to you the people I’m worried about today. You see what I cannot see and hold what I cannot control. Quiet my urge to fix everything. Teach me to stay close, to watch with love, and to step forward when you open a door. I rest their stories in your hands. – Amen
Practice for Today
Choose one person you’re concerned about. Instead of trying to solve their situation, be intentionally present: a text, a visit, a listening ear. Ask God to show you if and when to speak.
Journaling Prompt
Where am I trying to control outcomes instead of watching and waiting with God? How might I practice faithful presence instead of frantic fixing?
Closing Blessing
Keep watch for people in pain.
Stay near to those in fragile places without forcing outcomes.
Listen for God’s quiet invitations to speak or act.
Trust that your faithful presence is part of His rescue story.
Pray as You Go
Breathe in: Calm my striving…
Breathe out: … teach me to wait
