Motherhood, A Calling From God
Select Scripture
5-11-03
All through Scripture, the call of God upon a person¡¦s life was something special. Moses was called to be the leader of God¡¦s people and through that call was given the honor of a relationship with God like no one else. Israel was special because she was called by God to be His chosen people. There were certain men who were called and appointed to be prophets of God ¡V a position of great esteem but also of honor for they were put into the position of having the living God speak to them, work miraculously through them and use them as His mouthpiece. There were the 12 in the NT who were called to be disciples and apostles of Jesus and through that call were given the very unique privilege of living with the incarnate Son of God for 3 years. In our own day, we recognize and emphasize the privilege and high calling for a person to be a pastor/missionary and to serve God in that full-time way. And so over and over throughout the Bible and in our own day, we recognize the privilege, the uniqueness, the specialness and the honor to receive, in a specific way, the call of God upon one¡¦s life.
The Apostle Paul was someone who in the majority of his letters emphasized the call of God upon his life. He either referred to himself as someone ¡§called as an apostle¡¨ or as ¡§an apostle¡Kby the will of God.¡¨ It was something he did not take or treat lightly. He recognized the significance & honor of that call.
Additionally, in each call throughout the Bible, God had a specific plan and purpose for placing His call upon that person.
„X For Noah ¡V his purpose was to preserve the human race through him and his family.
„X For Abraham ¡V his purpose was to create a new nation and bless the whole world through his descendants.
„X For Moses ¡V his purpose was to deliver His people from slavery and to give to them and us the law of God.
„X For Joshua ¡V his purpose was to lead His people into the Promised Land.
„X For the boy Samuel ¡V His purpose was to call Israel back to Himself.
„X For Elijah & Elisha ¡V His purpose was to demonstrate that Jehovah God was the one and only true god.
„X For Isaiah and Jeremiah ¡V His purpose was to announce coming judgment because Israel had forsaken God.
„X For the apostles ¡V His purpose was for them to testify to the truth of who Jesus was and to take that truth throughout the world.
„X For the Apostle Paul ¡V His purpose was to take the gospel to the Gentiles and to give us most of the NT.
So God had and has a specific plan and purpose for placing His call upon a person.
Now why all this talk about the call of God? Well, for those of you who are mothers this morning, I want you to know that God has placed a call upon your life ¡V the call to be a mother. And it is just as special and privileged a call as any other God has given throughout history. God has placed a call upon you. Now let me build this case for you.
As Chrristians we believe in a sovereign God, a God who is sovereign over every aspect of His creation. Because of this we do not believe in accidents or coincidences. An unbeliever can pick up and read the book of Esther and remark about all the incredible coincidences that happened in Esther¡¦s life. They possibly would say, ¡§What incredible good luck she had. It¡¦s unbelievable.¡¨ But as believers in a sovereign God, we reject that knowing that God orchestrated all the events and the timing in Esther¡¦s life. We do not believe in accidents or coincidences.
I do not believe this church looked for a new location to meet in for 10 years and that my family looked for a home to purchase for 10 years ¡V I do not believe it was coincidence to discover on the day we had the church raising, after miraculously being able to purchase this land in the first place, that the house directly across the street was for sale. The church looked for land for 10 years and we looked for a house to buy for 10 years and& they end up being across the street from each other. That was no coincidence.
As Christians, we do not believe in accidents or coincidences.
In addition, Matthew 10:29 - Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. As I have taught you in the past, this verse is not saying that a sparrow cannot die without God knowing about it. Rather this verse teaches that a sparrow, a small and insignificant bird cannot die without the Father¡¦s expressed permission. So if a small bird cannot even fall to the ground or die without the Father¡¦s expressed permission then nothing is an accident, nothing!
Sometimes we talk in a negative way about some leader or executive who micromanages their business or whatever. Let me tell you, I¡¦m glad God micromanages His creation. He is sovereign. Nothing happens by accident.
Therefore, as we come today to celebrate Mother¡¦s Day and honor you mothers, let me state clearly the truth that the fact that you are a mother is not an accident. It is not something that just happened by nature. It is a call or a calling from God. If you want to give a title to this message it would be ¡V ¡§Motherhood, a Calling From God.¡¨ It is God¡¦s will for you. Just like Paul stated, he was an apostle by the will of God, if you are a mother, you are one by the will of God. And I want to urge you do not treat this calling lightly and do not let the world and a pagan culture and feminists lead you into treating it lightly. You have received, just as much as any other calling found throughout the Bible, you have received a call to be a mother. Your calling to be a mother is just as special, is just an honor and is just a privilege as Isaiah being called to be a prophet or as Paul being called to be an apostle.
You could not be a mother without the sovereign God¡¦s expressed permission. For many, motherhood and the ability to have children is kind of taken it for granted but it is not something automatic. It is not something that is automatic simply because you are a woman and designed to have children. It is not automatic just ask someone who has had difficulty in getting pregnant or has had miscarriages.
Let me give you 2 verses and you have probably never thought about them in this way:
Proverbs 16:9 - In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
Proverbs 19:21 - Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
You can have a great desire to be a mother. You can plan to be a mother. You can take steps to be a mother. You can assume you will be a mother, but it is the Lord¡¦s purpose or will that will prevail as to whether you actually will be a mother.
So let met state it again: You could not be a mother without God¡¦s expressed permission. Why? Because Scripture instructs us that since God is sovereign over every aspect of His creation therefore it is He who opens or closes the womb according to His plan and purposes.
„X Genesis 20:18 - For the LORD had closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
„X Genesis 25:21 - And Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
„X Genesis 29:31 - Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
„X Genesis 30:2 - Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
„X Genesis 30:22 - Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb.
„X 1 Samuel 1:5-6 - but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb. Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.
„X Deuteronomy 7:14 - "You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle.
So no matter how advanced science gets, no matter what discoveries and advances technology makes, no matter how proudly doctors and scientists want to think they can create life and play god, it is still God who opens or closes the womb. If you are a mother today, it is because it is God¡¦s call and will for you to be a mother.
Now that is a bold declaration to make because obviously not all mothers are believers and not all children were conceived under the God ordained sanction of marriage.
Nevertheless, if God is sovereign over all His creation, if a small bird cannot fall to the ground without the Father¡¦s permission, if God is the one who opens or closes the womb then being a mother is not an accident for He could have prevented it at any time. So even for the person who became a mother as an unbeliever or through fornication or adultery, God still allowed it.
So to sum up: if you are a mother then you have a calling from God; you have a calling from God upon your life just as much as a Moses, as a prophet of God, as an apostle. So if I could borrow Paul¡¦s opening expressions in his epistles (and I will use my wife’s name):
-Denise, called as a mother.
-Denise, a mother by the will of God.
Now in light of this calling, let me share with you mothers a few more verses as a challenge. And I acknowledge I am taking these verses out of context but I believe you will agree that the application I am giving to them is acceptable.
1 Timothy 6 - I would like to read 3 different verses.
1 Timothy 6:20 - O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you,"
2 Timothy 1:14 - Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
2 Timothy 1:9 - who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
In these verses Paul is speaking to Timothy, this young pastor he has mentored. And he was saying to him, ¡§Timothy, you must carefully watch over that which has been committed into your care.¡¨
Now for Timothy that which was entrusted to him was the gospel. So he was to carefully guard the trust or deposit given to him.
What is that trust or deposit that has been given to you mothers? It is the call of motherhood. Therefore, if I could borrow Paul¡¦s words, ¡§O Mothers, guard what has been entrusted to you. It is a treasure. Guard it. Do not treat it lightly. You are not a mother by accident. God did not have to open your womb. It was only by His expressed will that He did so and by doing so has entrusted to you a high & holy calling.
It was President Theodore Roosevelt who said, ¡§When all is said, it is the mother, and the mother only, who is a better citizen than the soldier who fights for his country. The successful mother, the mother who does her part in rearing and training aright the boys and girls who are to be the men and women of the next generation, is of greater use to the community, and occupies, if she would only realize it, a more honorable as well as a more important position than any man in it. The mother is the one supreme asset of the national life. She is more important, by far, than the successful statesman, or businessman, or artist, or scientist.¡¨
It was a Rally Day program at a particular church and a little girl was to recite the Scripture she had memorized for the occasion. When she got in front of the crowd, the sight of hundreds of eyes peering at her caused her to forget everything.
Every line that she had so carefully rehearsed faded from her mind and she stood there unable to utter a single word. In the front row, her mother was almost as frantic as the little girl. The mother gestured, moved her lips, trying to form the words for the girl, but it did no good.
Finally, the mother, in desperation, whispered the opening phrase of the memorized Scripture: "I am the light of the world."
Immediately the child’s face lit up and a smile appeared on it as she said with supreme confidence: "My mother is the light of the world!"
Of course, everybody smiled and some laughed out loud. Then they soberly reflected that the girl, in some ways, was not far from wrong.
¡§No man is poor who has had a godly mother.¡¨ - Abraham Lincoln
Mothers, you have a calling from God. Do not treat it lightly. And I need to add 1 other thing: since motherhood is a call from God, we as husbands and children and believers had better honor this one who has the call of God on their life. Men, treat carefully the mother of your children for you are dealing with one who has the call of God upon their life.
And let me just also say, I realize that maybe your mother was not perfect. Maybe she did not do everything right but Abraham did not do everything right either. Neither did Moses, or Samuel or the disciples, but that did not negate God¡¦s call or the fact that honor is to be given to that one who that has the call of God upon their life.
In closing, allow me the privilege and honor to pray for mothers who have been given this calling from God.
Prayer of Blessing
