Motherhood is one long series of lessons held in the often-chaotic classroom of daily living. Children are not the only learners in this equation – and there are no summer breaks.
New moms are often baffled about why their little bundles of joy will not stop crying in the middle of the night. Moms of toddlers are challenged to learn all they can about potty training and strong-willed two-year-olds whose favorite word is “no”! They have a whole new curriculum to master once their youngsters start school. Lessons in the teen years are often bewildering and often painful. As children grow and learn, so does a wise mother.
Since I will never be a mom, my lessons have been learned from my mom and from my wife, both wonderful mothers. But, I have been thinking about some of the more unusual motherhood lessons I have learned from mothers in the Bible. Allow me to share just three.
An Ideal Setting to Raise Great Kids Is Not a Necessity
There may never be a perfect time for bringing kids into the world, but some seasons are more challenging than others. Jochebed had a baby in the wrong place at the worst of times – or so it seemed – when infanticide of male Hebrew babies was the law of the land. It was in ancient Egypt where Jacob’s descendants were slaves and to keep them from getting strong enough to rise up against the Pharaoh, he just ordered that all baby boys be killed. I am sure there was much angst, many sobs of worry, and countless sleepless nights during this pregnancy – hoping for a girl!
When the boy was born, all Jachebed could do was trust God to care for him. Make a little water-tight basket, this mom trusted God to care for him.
There had to be a big element of trust in God as Jochebed released the just-weaned little boy back to Pharaoh’s daughter to be raised as that woman’s son. This pagan princess even gave him the name he would be known by all his life and throughout history: Moses.
Yet, even in the extended household of the cruel ruler whose edict almost snuffed out Moses’ life, God was at work, shaping the destiny of Jochebed’s son. Time would come when this mom’s faithfulness would result in her nation’s deliverance from slavery and journey toward the Promised Land.
A Loving Mom Never Gives Up
Rizpah was a grieving mother whose two sons had been hanged as retribution for what their father, King Saul, had done to the Gibeonites. They were not given the dignity of burial, but were left to hang in disgrace, exposed to the elements and wild beasts.
Rizpah would not abandon her dead sons. She camped beside them on a rock, scaring off the scavenging birds and beasts, until King David heard of her courage and granted her sons a burial.
A counterpart to this story is when another grieving mom was walking alongside the bier carrying the body of her beloved son. She had a company of mourners with her, but, as a widow, she knew that endless sorrow would be her sole companion for the long haul. Her only child was dead.
But Jesus, the Comforter of the brokenhearted, and the Champion of hopeless causes, approached the woman. He was not put off by her wailing, soul-wrenching cries. He stepped in and gave the mother back her son.
Many moms today are keeping their own vigil over children who have left the faith and seem to have no spiritual life in them. From Rizpah, we can learn that dishonor can be turned to honor for our kids – that it is never too late to stop fighting for those we love, even when others see them as beyond hope because of the mortal wounds they have incurred through wrong choices that lead to spiritual lifelessness.
There is no addiction to drugs or alcohol, no lifestyle deviancy, no funeral of their faith that is beyond the One who stopped a funeral and gave a mom back her son, healthy and whole!
We Can Not Always Know What Is Best For Our Kids – But God Does
The mother (some think her name was Salome) of James and John, disciples of Jesus, wanted her boys to have a special place in His kingdom .Moms who want good things for their offspring can be brazen and pushy and nothing is wrong with that. The trouble is, we do not know what “best” looks like for their lives.
We ask for favor, and they do not make the team. We ask for them to be well-liked by their peers, and they struggle to make a good friend. We ask for learning to be easy, and they can not seem to grasp the concepts so obvious to others. We plead for good health and safety, and they experience the bumps and bruises of a fallen, unsafe world. At times we wonder, “Jesus, do You truly love my kids as much as everyone says You do? It sure does not look that way today!”
From the mother of James and John we learn that it is OK to come and ask, as long as we allow Jesus to sort it out, straighten us out, and bring the Father’s best to pass in their lives. He truly does have our kid’s best interest at heart. This biblical mom would soon see Jesus going to the cross for her boys, and appear to them afterwards as their resurrected Lord. He would equip them and send them out on a lifelong adventure of ministry that would transform the world. James and John were not granted the prime seats on either side of Jesus that their mom asked for – but they got so much more!
From these three mothers in the Bible, 21st Century moms can learn lessons that will sustain them in their hardest motherhood struggles. We must have hope that God is at work in our children’s lives, even when conditions are not ideal; that He hears our anguished cries and brings new life when things seem most hopeless; that He knows what is best for those who are most precious to us and will bring it to pass in His time.
What more could any mother way to make it a “Happy Mother’s Day”!
