The Saturday Journal: Our Baskets

I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago–On the Ground with Samaritan’s Purse. In this particular episode they were interviewing one of the pilots for the ministry and the question was asked, do you have one special memory or story you can share–and his story began like this–there was this one little girl…

‘I was dropping off supplies and the crowd had gathered around the plane and once they had gotten all of the supplies, one man stayed and he had this basket. And inside the basket was this little girl. Her leg had been trampled by a cow and it looked like her femur bone was broken. I asked her father where the mother of the child was and someone went to get her. I then loaded them in the plane and we flew to the closest medical facility.’

When Moses’ mother placed him in the basket, his sister Miriam hid in the bulrushes–waiting to see the outcome of her baby brother. And then came King Pharaoh’s daughter to the River Nile to bathe. She asked one of her maidens to pull the basket out of the water and Baby Moses–he cried. And Miriam came running out of hiding and asked the king's daughter if she wanted her to go and get one of the Hebrew women to take care of Moses until he was old enough to live in the palace. And who did she run to–her Mama–Moses’ Mama.

There were, in essence, three women who cared for Baby Moses in this basket–his Mama who spent hours–maybe days, weeks, months weaving the reeds, mixing slime and pitch--making sure the basket would float and not a single drop of water would seep in. And then she gently laid him in the basket and bravely–she let him go. His older sister Miriam kept a watchful eye as the basket floated along the river's edge. And the daughter of the very king who had ordered all the Hebrew baby boys to be killed gave an order of her own–bring the basket to me.

Baskets can hold the most precious of cargo. And they can also hold a weight so heavy–we can’t carry it on our own. Nor are we meant to.

After hearing this pilot’s story and reflecting on Moses’ story and other stories in God’s Word, I had to ask myself this question–just who and what am I carrying in my basket? Is my basket full? Too full? Is it empty? Am I carrying offerings–gifts–people I love–burdens and worries I need to spill out–give them all to the Lord?

There were five thousand plus hungry people and Jesus took one young boy’s lunch of five barley loaves and two small fishes and blessed what food they had. And then the first part of the miracle came–there was food for everyone–and something we often lose in the story–the twelve baskets. The abundance of leftovers gathered in the twelve baskets was enough to feed even more–the Bible says the baskets were full. And those baskets would be emptied once again--feeding others. So we know where the five loaves and two fishes came from–but the baskets? Perhaps they were as much of the miracle as the multiplying of the food itself.

And the more Apostle Paul preached Jesus was the Son of God, the more his life was in danger. We read Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12:32-33, “In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.”

And who let down the basket for Paul’s escape? “Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.” Acts 9:25.

This man–this father–he didn't bring his basket to the plane to carry back needed food and supplies. It was already full. In his basket was a heavy burden–a daughter he loved, suffering and in desperate need of healing. And he stayed back. He didn’t push through the crowd. He lingered and waited until everyone was gone. And then he asked for help.

Be still and know I am God. Psalm 46:10

What we choose to do with what’s in our baskets will be what matters most. True, our baskets are for gathering and a full basket is a blessing. But a far greater blessing is having an empty basket--one that’s been poured out.

Blessed be thy basket and thy store. Deuteronomy 28:5

Baby Moses' story can be read in Exodus, Chapter 2. Jesus' miracle of feeding the five thousand is in all four gospels in the New Testament, Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17; and John 6:1-13.

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