Gtcotr/ss051009
It has often been said that when God wants a job done, a child is born. This is true! However, before God puts His plan into action, first He chooses a mother!
You see, when God created Adam in the Garden of Eden and set him there among the animals, God noticed that Adam was lonely and alone. Seeing this God said in:
Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
So God took a rib from man, something close to his heart, and around that rib God fashioned a woman. Woman was first taken out of man and then united in covenant to man, placed back in his life, to complete him once again.
When God first presented Eve to Adam, Adam said:
Genesis 2
23 And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Adam fell in love and in this covenant of joining, Adam and his wife, Eve, shared a level of intimacy and comfortableness with one another that brought them no shame … they were one.
It is through our God ordained relationships with other humans that we are completed in this world. God never intended for His relationship with man to take the place of man’s relationship with man.
God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that relationship between God and man could not meet every need of man and that He could not do for man what other human contact could. He said that it was not good that humans be without other humans in which to relate and depend upon.
Perhaps, just perhaps, one of the reasons for Adam and Eve’s downfall was because they had no other person to teach them and guide them and watch over them. Adam and Eve, the father and mother of all mankind, had no mother to nurture, care and correct them.
After His experience with Adam, God decided that no person would ever be born without a mother. Every person who has ever lived since Adam and Eve has been born of a woman. Granted, not every mother is the picture perfect mother God intended, but nonetheless, no person comes into this world without one.
I suppose therefore that mothers are quite essential to God’s continuing plan.
Let’s look at some of the women God chose to be mothers.
Moses’ Mother
* Moses’ mother protected her child for as long as she could and when she could no longer protect him …
* She had the strength and faith to trust her child to God’s care
Imagine how difficult it must have been that day and the strength it must have taken for here to place her child in a basket and push him out beyond her reach, into the currents of the Nile River. As she released her child, she was releasing him to God’s care and God’s will. God knew what kind of woman it would take to be the right mother for this man called Moses … a woman of faith.
Only when we have faith in God can we truly release others to His superintending care.
A second mother we are going to talk about today is:
Esther’s Mother
You may remember the story of this young lady who rose to become Queen of the Persian Empire and was used by God to deliver the Children of Israel from genocide. The book of Esther is an amazing historical account which I believe everyone should read. However:
Esther 2: 7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
* We know so little about Esther’s mother since she died when Esther was evidently very young. The Bible mentions virtually nothing about her.
* We know so little about Esther’s mother and yet we know so much about her because, we know Esther.
It is the unwritten destiny of every child to take upon themselves the very best traits of their mother.
So, in looking at Esther’s life, let me tell you some wonderful things about her mother.
* Esther’s mother was kind, beautiful, gracious, and intelligent.
* Esther’s mother was a patient and very strategic woman who saw the bigger picture and understood that life was not all about her and her personal comfort.
* Above all, Esther’s mother trusted God when facing life and when facing death.
These were the qualities essential to Esther’s calling and no doubt God considered these things when He chose who should be the mother of this courageous Queen.
Why did God choose your mother? What are the very best traits she possessed that give you your greatest potential? Honor her for these.
Let’s look at one more mother …
Jesus’ Mother
* Mary was a woman full of faith and unafraid of opposition
* She was direct, opinionated, and not intimidated by her Son
* No doubt she was hurt by the accusations she faced, however she did not allow that hurt to dominate her life.
* Mary rose above what others said and thought about her and her child and did not infect Him with her pain. (No place in the Inn)
* She was a considerate woman often hiding things in her heart to ponder before she spoke.
* Mary was an exceptionally strong woman tested by great heartache … she watched her firstborn Child be wrongfully accused, severely beaten, unjustly condemned and cruelly crucified, and yet she still went to church, prayed and worshipped God anyway.
* No wonder why God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus … these were the attributes God wanted passed on to His only Son.
In each of these three women we find one common element essential to every mother, it’s the element of trust.
A mother, more than any other person or position on planet Earth, is exposed to tests, challenges, disappointments, heartaches, overwhelming joy, hope, emotional highs and emotional lows. The one thing mothers need more than anything else is an abiding trust in God.
I do not know how a mother can survive without trusting God. Trust that God will watch over, care for, speak to, protect, guard, guide, and defend their child and never let them feel lonely or alone.
Mothers, the good news is that you can trust God. The children you have whether living at home, grown and gone, or already in heaven, are always safest when placed in the arms of God. Trust God!
