When the Chaos Comes, You Are Not Empty-Handed

Most of us have had a moment when the weight of what we were facing felt like more than we could carry. Maybe it was a middle-of-the-night realization that a situation had grown beyond what we could manage on our own. Maybe it was a conversation we did not expect, a diagnosis that changed everything, or a season of pressure so sustained that our faith began to feel like it was thinning at the edges. In those moments, it is easy to feel like we are going into what's ahead with nothing left in our hands.

Shiphrah and Puah knew that feeling. In Exodus 1:15–22, two Hebrew midwives were brought before Pharaoh — the most powerful ruler of their world — and given an order that no person of conscience could quietly follow. He commanded them to kill every Hebrew baby boy at birth. There was no room for negotiation. There was only Pharaoh's word and the weight of what it would cost to refuse it. And yet the Bible gives us one of the most quietly remarkable sentences in all of Scripture: "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 1:17, NIV). Two ordinary working women, equipped by an extraordinary God, changed the course of history — not with weapons or status, but with faithful courage.

What made the difference for Shiphrah and Puah was not that they were unusually strong people. It was who they feared. When the most powerful earthly authority commanded them to act against their conscience, their deepest loyalty was not to the throne — it was to God. And that single orientation — fearing God above all else — became the source of everything they needed to do what was right. Their equipment was not military or strategic. It was spiritual. And spiritual equipping, when rooted in genuine reverence for God, is more than enough for whatever chaos we face.

If you are in a season of chaos right now, here are three things worth anchoring to. First, be honest about what you are facing. Do not minimize the chaos or pretend it is smaller than it is. Shiphrah and Puah did not look away from the reality of what Pharaoh was asking. They faced it clearly. Clarity, even when it is painful, is a gift that God gives us so we can move through what is in front of us with open eyes. Second, let what you know about God become louder than what you feel about your circumstances. The midwives did not have a road map. They had a conviction. And that conviction — that God was greater than the chaos — became their compass. When the pressure around you is loud, the truth about who God is must be louder. Third, take the next faithful step without waiting for the full picture. These women made a decision and lived into it. They did not know how it would unfold. They simply chose faithfulness in the moment. That is often all God asks of us — one faithful step at a time.

God blessed Shiphrah and Puah in ways they could not have anticipated when they made their choice. Scripture tells us He gave them families of their own. Their obedience was not overlooked. It was seen, honored, and woven permanently into the record of Scripture. The same God who saw them sees you. He sees every quiet act of faithfulness you carry out when no one else is watching. He sees every moment you choose to fear Him when everything around you is pulling you in another direction. You are not walking into your chaos empty-handed. You are walking in equipped by a God who has already been where you are going.