“Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15).
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Here we are standing in Your Throne Room by invitation; to call upon You and receive from You, understanding of how the love of a mortal can even vaguely be compared to Your love! Our finite minds cannot comprehend it Lord, so please teach us the lesson You want us to learn. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Today we are going to take a look at mother, the sunshine, and main nurturer of the family. Sunshine, because she is usually the first person that baby recognizes and gives a smile! Nurturer, because when anyone in the family is hurt, whether physically, or emotionally, mothers have a way of knowing, and usually knows what to say or do, to soothe the pain and calm the fears.
Please note that I qualify these statements with the adverb usually. Which, means that unfortunately, this is not always the case. Our text for today, makes that possibility obvious.
But the perspective from which I would like us to consider this text, is rather very positive. God used the one person, that He knew, because of how He created her, would most likely NOT forget her child, to emphasize His ULTIMATE care for us! Now that is what I would consider honorable! God putting a mother’s faithfulness, next, only to His!
Mother, you have been endowed with an extraordinary ability to be a blessing to the family and to the world! You have been created with the gift, to do, by God’s grace, things that others would not even consider doing.
Some mothers, in life and death situations, where it was either their life, or the life of their unborn child, chose to die, so that their baby could live! Mothers in concentration camps, undernourished, and facing death, have continued nursing their young babies, in order to keep them alive, even though it meant depleting their own body’s essential nutrients, mainly calcium, leaving themselves fragile and subject to multiple fractures.
A mother recognizes, the cry of her baby in the midst of the crying of other infants, and does not hesitate to rush to the rescue of her child. She can also determine the child’s needs by the sound of the cry, whether the child is tired, hungry, in pain, uncomfortable, or just needing to hear mommy’s heartbeat.
Mother is usually the one children will share their secrets with, or confess a wrong they have committed. A mother who really loves her child, will not let the child feel ashamed or unworthy, but neither will she allow wrong to be hidden or ignored. Instead, she will teach the child the value of being honest, and will definitely stand beside her child and encourage them to confess their wrong, and make restitution, whenever necessary.
She will also celebrate with her child every victory obtained over wrong habits. By celebrating the positive, she strengthens the good, and weakens evil tendencies.
She teaches her children to hold on to their goals when they are God-inspired, and not to allow anyone or anything to dissuade them from doing what is right! And to be resilient in the face of failure.
All of these attributes of motherhood form the basis of a much needed nurturing that helps to form healthy characters and produce healthy behavior, by the grace of God. And these attributes are given to mother, by God, the Creator, for His glory, her own blessing, and the blessing of others!