Today is Mothering Sunday and in many places around the world the focus will be on mothers.
I think it is fair to say that simply having children does not make a woman a mother.
Abraham Lincoln said: No one is poor who has a godly mother
Napoleon said, “The future destiny of a child is the work of a mother”.
The Spanish say, “an ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.”
Today I want us to consider a story from the Old Testament about a mother and the prophet Elijah.
In 1 Kings we are told a story of a mother, a single parent with a child, who was facing the type of financial difficulties that many parents still face today.
Except there were no benefits available for her, no credit cards to fall back on, no companies offering pay day loans with 1000% interest.
With no regular income coming in, she lived on what she could scrape together to live on.
And on this particular day, God works a miracle.
Listen to 1 Kings 17:8-16 Then the LORD said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.” So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” But she said, “I swear by the LORD your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again!” So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.
You would think that today, Centuries later, poverty would not be a problem. But it is, and not just in the third world.
Covid, the War in Ukraine, food and fuel prices, and many other situations and circumstances have brought difficulties and problems for many people.
In the current economic climate, there are many people, parents and single parents, struggling to make ends meet all around the world.
People are in despair and relying on food banks even in seemingly rich areas.
Years ago, there was a stigma attached to shopping at Lidl or Aldi now it is viewed as a sensible choice.
But still, people are struggling and it seems like every week a new food bank is opening somewhere to help those who really need assistance.
Maybe you know some people who are struggling or maybe you can identify with this woman.
Maybe at some stage in your life, you have struggled, maybe you are struggling now.
Maybe you know what this woman was feeling.
She had nothing left - and she was being asked to give what she did not have.
She was out of food, out of money, out of hope.
In fact, all she had left was enough to scrape together one last meal, and she wanted it to be a hot meal.
So out she goes to collect wood. So that she could cook over a fresh fire.
You know, when we are at our lowest, God will always find a way to speak to us.
Sometimes it's a verse of scripture.
Sometimes it’s a song.
Sometimes it’s His voice we hear.
Sometimes He will use a person.
And for this woman, God brings the prophet Elijah into her life.
We know a lot more about Elijah than we know about this woman.
In fact, we know very little about this woman apart from the fact that she was a mother and a widow.
Apart from that, we know almost nothing about her, we don’t even know her name.
We may know nothing about her - But God knows everything about everyone.
God had a purpose for this woman.
God had a plan for this woman.
God had chosen this woman for a specific task.
It wasn’t an accident that she was chosen to meet Elijah, it wasn’t a fluke, and it didn’t just happen.
God didn’t start that day by thinking to himself, "well it would be fun today if..."
God chose this woman for a purpose. She was chosen for a specific reason.
Just as Mary was chosen, just as Esther was chosen, just as Ruth and Sarah and Deborah and Pricilla and Tabitha were chosen.
In the very same way, this nameless woman was chosen to be a mother and to serve God.
Being a mother, and being a parent, has certain ground rules, perhaps the most important rule is Proverbs 22:6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
We are all to teach our children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.
As parents, our greatest responsibility is the spiritual training of our children.
Everything else pales in comparison.
If we neglect their health, there is a good chance that they will get sick,
if we neglect their teeth, there is a good chance that they will lose them,
if we neglect their education, there is a good chance they will struggle to get a job.
But if we neglect their spiritual training there is a good chance they will never be in a personal relationship with God and that will affect them for eternity. As parents, our responsibility is to teach our children to choose the right path.
We can train up our children,
we can try to walk a blameless walk,
we can encourage them to be in church each week,
we can have family prayers,
and we can read the Bible together.
But we cannot force them to believe - they need to make their own decision to follow God for themselves.
As much as we would like to determine their salvation, we can only show them the way and trust God to do the rest.
Mothers and fathers, we have a responsibility to train our children right.
We can bring up two children the in exactly the same way and one might choose to become a devout servant of God and the other might choose to walk away from God, it is their choice.
God has given our children free will.
We cannot live their lives for them.
We can’t get saved for them.
Friends, you are not a failure if your child, or your parents, or your husband, or your wife, do not choose to love God.
And kids should never blame their parents for the choices they themselves make.
Do you remember the Jeremy Kyle TV show?
It was one of those daytime TV shows where dysfunctional people talk about everything that they think is wrong in their lives.
And quite often, people say the reason they are what they are, is because of their parents.
Just once, wouldn’t it be nice to hear someone stand up and take some responsibility for their own actions?
Maybe if the show had continued, perhaps one day someone would have stood up and said “I had great parents, they loved me and did everything they could but I messed up”
Mothers and fathers, we have a responsibility to train our children right.
It’s not just something for the Sunday School teachers or the Youth leaders to do.
We all have the responsibility to train our children.
Historically the church has had more female missionaries than males.
Look inside most churches in the world today and you will find there are more women in the average congregation than men.
Statistically most Sunday School teachers are female and God has chosen these ladies to be an example to our children.
He has His purpose in His choice.
But, both mothers and fathers, have the responsibility to train their children in the right way.
If we don’t show concern for the welfare of others, we can’t expect our children to.
If we don’t give to the work of God, then we can’t expect our children to.
And if we don’t show a caring loving attitude toward our brothers and sisters in the Lord, let’s not be surprised if our children don’t.
Children pick up more than we realise.
They hear everything we say, and see everything we do and it is stored away in the memories of our children for future reference.
Maybe we should worry more about what our children hear us say or watch us do.
We will never teach our children to care if they never see how we care.
Caring for them and for others.
Despite what they may say, our Children want our love, our care, and our encouragement.
They want us to take an interest in what they do, they want us to show that we are proud of them.
They want to know how proud you are, how smart they are or how pretty they are.
They want you to love them. But you can’t buy their love with gifts.
Money and presents are no substitute for real love.
Friends, we can choose to follow God’s path and purpose or we can choose to pursue our own agenda.
When the woman met Elijah, she had a choice.
Elijah had foretold of famine and drought that would overcome Israel, and in the course of this famine and drought, God and this woman meet.
Elijah, a typical preacher, the first thing he asks this woman is a question. A fairly simple question, “Would you please bring me a cup of water?”
Well, that wasn’t that difficult, even she could afford to give someone a drink of water.
So, as she turns to get the water, Elijah says “get me something to eat too.”
God was offering her a choice, “If you believe in me, then provide for my servant first and you’ll never want, but first, you have to trust me.”
God could have filled the jars first and that would have made everything a whole lot easier.
It’s easy to believe when it’s laid out in front of you, but that’s not faith, at least not like the Bible defines faith.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us what real faith is. Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Often we have to show our faith before God will give us a visionary view of his faithfulness.
Peter had to get out of the boat before he could walk on the water.
Joshua had to march around Jericho for seven days before the walls came down and David had to use his sling before the giant came down.
This was a test of this mother's faith.
An opportunity to believe that God could and would provide.
An opportunity to step out in faith.
The woman was willing to give her last away in order to prove her faith and God’s faithfulness.
Her actions said, “God, I have faith in you, I believe you enough to give you everything I have”
Then God worked His miracle.
Let me close by saying this,
The best gift a child can give a parent is the knowledge that they know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Parents, God is faithful, and he will never make a promise that he can’t or won’t keep.
Gabriel told Mary, with God nothing is impossible, and we need to believe that.
Maybe there are times that you feel that your children may never come to know Jesus.
But don’t stop praying.
In Matthew 21:22 Jesus said, You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.
Again in Mark 11:24, Jesus said, I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
Or John 11:22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.
And John 14:13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.
Do you believe the truth of these verses?
Do you believe the truth enough to put it into practice?
Don’t stop praying for the children.
Mothers, this is your special day. May God bless you in it.
Amen.
