Happy Mother’s Day to all mums as we celebrate ourselves and one another! This is life, to rejoice and find reason to give thanks in all things. Another day will break forth while we yet have a day to live, to make adjustments, and change where we need to.
There’s nothing like learning from history, gleaning the timeless wisdom of the mothers who made a difference from a collection of 66 books and letters called the ‘Bible’, spanning over 4,000 years.
Like today, those mothers grappled with many similar issues and their stories are teaching points in our journey. While we navigate our personal journey, their lives create a rich tapestry of faith for successive generations. The Holy Spirit desires to lead our steps as He directed theirs so that we’re perfected in God’s love.
Perhaps the most popular verses are Proverbs 31:10-29 – 30 verses about the ethereal woman – a wife and mother who’s strong yet so delicate, fine, and graceful, who excels above all!
Those words were not written by King Solomon but the oracle of King Lemuel’s mother to his son, telling him that none of the girls her son was dating would ever measure up, therefore do not hope to find such a one.
Whose worth is above rubies, she’s trustworthy, accomplished in provisions, watches over her household including maidservants, productive, strong, with a 24-hour surveillance system for her lamp that doesn’t go out. She’s also wise, generous, kind, compassionate, regal, elegant, and her children call her blessed!
A line of accolades, which would have us be quick to agree that “I can’t quite measure up”. I’d like to suggest that she’s a picture of several stellar women, not a case of a mistaken person in her media release. The Bible also records other mothers, whom maybe, we can identify with.
There was Sarah, who waited on the promised Isaac. She started late on the Mommy Track, time wasn’t on her side, and her womb was on a different biological clock. Abraham and Sarah were set up when they took their first move in obedience to God, and God Himself fulfilled the promise. For Sarah, this promise did not rely on the level of her faith or works. Likewise, your first act to obey will give you access to a promise which God has spoken, so ‘wait’.
There was Hannah, who persisted while wholly dedicated and committed. When the Lord closed her womb, we read that ‘year by year, she went up to the house of Yahweh’. Although her prayers were not answered, she continued serving God instead of losing hope.
Hannah was not on a ‘Who’s Who’ list and, though provoked by Peninnah, she was a faithful worshipper who sought the Lord. ‘She prayed to the LORD and she wept bitterly; she made a vow’ (1 Samuel 1:8).
Soon she conceived, giving birth to Samuel. In obedience, Hannah fulfilled her vow and Samuel became the most famous prophet in Israel’s history, anointing the first two kings – Saul and David. Hannah’s persistence, dedication, and commitment produced patience, wisdom, and trust in God. What God did for Hannah, He can do for us when we pray.
Or you may be facing an economic crisis, as many mothers may today to put food on the table. God asked Zarephath’s widow to give the little she had to Elijah the prophet, something we probably wouldn’t consider as we need to conserve the little. How can we give our food to someone else?
But God sees differently. It’s in giving that we receive; when we trust, provision is manifested. I testify to this in my personal life on countless occasions. It’s to believe that God will provide for our every need, for ‘the bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry’ (1 Kings 17:16). As David said, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God that which cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24).
The first two years with our babies, we spent time teaching them to walk and talk while, for the rest of their lives, we want them to sit and listen. Our love can be fierce, we can be stubborn to a fault, and doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Indeed, the responsibilities of motherhood are great, but the rewards are even greater.
Someone said, “Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person’s everything”, and mothers, we’re an open book before God. We do not have the right answers all the time, so let us not look to ourselves for the truth – “Look to Jesus, from where your help comes!”
Let’s make this our prayer – let’s climb the mountain of the Lord together:
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.”
Psalm 121:1-8
God bless you, especially on this Mother’s Day!
