The girl hid at a safe distance, her eyes focused on a spot among the reeds. She held still, every muscle tensed, as the great river Nile slid slowly by. Time dragged on, but she kept waiting and watching, trying to ignore the insects that buzzed idly around her. There, where she gazed, a watertight basket was hidden; within it lay her baby brother. To think of him in there, alone and helpless, tore at her heart. But she knew that her parents were right; this was the baby’s only hope in this terrible time.

That young girl was showing remarkable bravery, and she was about to show still more. In her heart a wonderful quality was already taking shape—faith. It would show itself clearly in the following moments, and it would shape the whole course of her life.

Miriam the Child of Slavery

The Bible account does not name the child, but there can be little doubt as to her identity. She was Miriam, the oldest offspring of Amram and Jochebed, Hebrew slaves in the land of Egypt. (Numbers 26:59) Her baby brother would later be named Moses. Aaron, the baby’s older brother, was about three at this time. It is not certain how old Miriam was, but it seems reasonable to suggest that she was under ten years of age.

Miriam lived in dark times. The Egyptians saw her people, the Hebrews, as a great threat, so they enslaved and oppressed them. When the slaves kept thriving and growing in number, the fearful Egyptians resorted to an even more vicious tactic. Pharaoh ordered that all male babies of the Hebrews be killed off at birth. Miriam surely knew of the faith shown by the two midwives Shiphrah and Puah, who quietly defied the order.—Exodus 1:8-22.

Miriam saw the faith of her own parents as well. After the birth of this beautiful third child, Amram and Jochebed kept him hidden for the first three months of his life. They did not let a morbid fear of the king’s order push them into getting rid of their child. (Hebrews 11:23) But it is a hard thing to hide a baby, and soon they faced an agonizing choice. Jochebed had to conceal the child and leave him where someone might find him, someone who could protect him and raise him. Imagine the mother’s fervent prayers as she fashioned a basket of reeds, coated it with bitumen and pitch to keep it watertight, and left her beloved child in the Nile River! No doubt she told Miriam to stay and watch to see what would happen.—Exodus 2:1-4.

Miriam the Rescuer

So Miriam waited. In time, she caught sight of movement. A group of women approached. And they were no ordinary Egyptians. It was Pharaoh’s daughter and her female attendants, coming to bathe in the Nile. Perhaps Miriam’s heart sank. Could she even dare to hope that Pharaoh’s own daughter would violate the king’s order and choose to protect this Hebrew baby? Miriam surely prayed intensely in those moments.

It was Pharaoh’s daughter who first caught sight of the basket in the reeds. She sent her slave girl to bring it to her. The account then says of the princess: “When she opened it, she saw the child, and the boy was crying.” She quickly surmised what had happened: Some Hebrew mother was attempting to spare her child’s life. But compassion for that beautiful baby stirred the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter. (Exodus 2:5, 6) Alert Miriam surely read the expression on the woman’s face. The child knew that her moment had come, the time to put her faith in Jehovah into action. Mustering her courage, she approached the royal party.

We cannot know what treatment a young Hebrew slave girl might expect for daring to approach royalty and speak up. Yet, Miriam asked a direct question of the princess: “Shall I go and call a nursing woman from the Hebrews to nurse the child for you?” This was the right question to ask. Pharaoh’s daughter knew that she was in no position to nurse a baby. Perhaps she felt that it would be more discreet if the boy was nursed among his own people; she could bring him into her own home later as her adopted son and then see to his upbringing and education. Miriam’s heart must have leaped when the princess answered her in a single word: “Go!”—Exodus 2:7, 8.

Miriam raced home to her anxious parents. Imagine the words tumbling excitedly from her mouth as she told her mother the news. Jochebed, surely convinced that this was Jehovah’s doing, went with Miriam back to Pharaoh’s daughter. Perhaps Jochebed tried to hide her delight and relief when the princess ordered: “Take this child with you and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.”—Exodus 2:9.

Miriam learned a lot about her God, Jehovah, that day. She learned that he cares about his people and listens to their prayers. And she learned that courage and faith are limited neither to adults nor to men. Jehovah listens to all of his faithful servants. (Psalm 65:2) All of us today—young and old, male and female—need to remember this in these difficult times.