GOD'S WORD: The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. - Exodus 1: 15-17
In this first chapter of Exodus, we find the Israelite people oppressed by the Egyptians, partly because the Israelites were multiplying and could become more numerous; threatening Egypt's control over them. So the Egyptian king told the Hebrew midwives, mainly Shiprah and Puah, to kill the male babies as they were delivered. But Shiprah and Puah quietly disobeyed the king's orders and let the male babies live. In doing so, they knew they could be killed for disobeying the king but their devotion to the Lord God was a greater calling than obedience to a king. It took courage. It took integrity. It took faith in knowing that God is faithful to keep His promises of delivering His people.
Sometimes you and I will be asked to do something by an authority that we know contradicts the statutes of God. We come to a crossroads where we must decide to obey God or succumb to what is comfortable, convenient and/or self-serving.
I've made many decisions in my life that were not aligned to God's precepts. I chose the easier way or the road less traveled or worse, what others thought I should do before asking God what I should do. And all of those wrong decisions that I thought would bring peace, prosperity or safety, were fleeting and ended up costing me physical, emotional and spiritual distress because God does not bless what is not of Him.
When the Egyptian king found out what the midwives had done, God protected them and gave them the right words to say to the king, citing that the Hebrew women gave birth before the midwives could arrive (which wasn't true). Later in that same chapter, we find:
"So, God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own." (Exodus 1: 20-21)
God is sovereign over all authority whether it's presidents, princes, potentates, judges and even your local dogcatcher. When God instructs you to do something that glorifies Him, He (Jehovah Nissi) goes before you, making crooked paths straight and rough places smooth.