THE MOTHERHOOD OF GOD
Isa 66:12-13
12 For this is what the LORD says: "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."
THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO THINGS THAT ALL AMERICANS HOLD AS SACRED, regardless of race, creed, or religion: apple pie and motherhood!
Well, we don’t have any special days to honor apple pies, but we do quite well with regard to mother. Sometimes I wonder if Mother’s Day was born out of a conspiracy. One thing is for sure: there are at least 4 businesses that stand to profit greatly from it: florists, greetings card companies telephone companies, and restaurants.
Am I against motherhood? No, so long as we don’t make Mother’s Day a holy day. Let’s face it. Not all mothers are virtuous. God meant them to be but because of sin, some have not lived up to their high calling.
Some abort their children before they’re even born.
Others consume alcohol and smoke during pregnancy thereby endangering their offspring.
Some mothers beat their children
Others abandon them.
Still others put their careers before them
And some ignore them
However, I still believe that the vast majority of mothers love their children deeply and strive to do the best they can in a pressure-filled culture such as ours.
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who reveres the Lord will be praised.”
Proverbs 31:30.
Did you hear about the 5-yr. old boy who said to his mother, “Mommy, I love you, and when I grow up I’m going to get you an electric iron, an electric stove, and electric toaster and an electric chair.”
I can think of at least three things that are positive in relationship to Mother’s Day and the church.
• Attendance is usually better
• It gives us an opportunity to look into God’s Word for characteristics that go into making a godly mother.
• It gives us an opportunity to extol the mother-like qualities of God.
Normally, we think of God as our Father and the reason is that for the most part, God has chosen to reveal Himself in the masculine. But there’s nothing wrong with thinking of God as possessing some mother-like qualities. After all, God is a Spirit. The Bible uses many metaphors, names, and titles to reveal His many-sided nature. For example...
❏ He is our King and we are his subjects
❏ He is our Shepherd and we are His sheep
❏ He is our Counselor and we are His clients
❏ He is our Redeemer, and we are His possession.
❏ He is our Priest and we are His people
❏ He is our Father and we are His children
As a Father He provides for our needs. He trains, corrects, and educates us in love and service as members of a great family.
But in Isaiah 66:13, we have something deeper. A mother is a ministering angel in times of pain and sorrow. She has the art to comfort better than a man.
You see, God combines in Himself all the virtues of a perfect character. He is not only strong and protective, He is also tender and comforting. In fact, Paul refers to Him in II Cor.1:3,4 as “the God of all comfort.” Just exactly how does God comfort us?
1. GOD COMFORTS BY HIS PRESENCE
Think of this for a moment. What is a house without a mother? Her presence means comfort, love, and service. But its even worse to have a home without God!
Yet He’s not so far away from anyone of us that He cannot soothe and sympathize. He lifts His troubled child up into His everlasting arms and holds him close.
Once the New York Times was asked to help a group of club women decide on the twelve greatest women in the United States. After due consideration, the editors replied, ’The twelve greatest women in the United States are women who have never been heard of outside of their own homes.’"
2. GOD COMFORTS US BY HIS WORD
The child’s first teacher is his mother. She gives him his earliest and most sacred lessons of God, life, and duty. When he is discouraged, her words comfort and inspire. When disobedient, her rebuke brings correction. When fear fills his heart, she holds him close and reassures him.
God is like that. Man at his best is but an infant crying in the night, with no language but a cry. And as he cries, God comforts as a mother by His gracious words.
Illus.: “In Prison With Three Books”
The editor of a well-known London newspaper sent a letter of inquiry to 100 professors, authors, merchants, and other professional people. The inquiry was, “Suppose you were sent to prison for 3 years and you could only take 3 books with you. Which 3 would you choose? Please state them in order of their importance.” Out of the replies, 98 put one book first on their list–the Bible.
Few of these men were religious. In fact, several were atheists and agnostics. Yet they knew that no other book could give them the comfort and hope to help in dark days.
3. GOD COMFORTS US BY HIS SILENCE
If her child is in any kind of trouble, a mother receives that child without asking a lot of questions. Her intuition tells her what is wrong, but she does not speak. Comfort is her first reaction. How like the motherhood of God! He doesn’t condemn us. Our hearts do that. He simply says, “Come unto me and find your rest.”
Illus.: “A Mother’s Touch”
A wounded soldier returned from Viet Nam. He was in critical condition. He was blind, his mind was clouded, and his body was mangled. His mother traveled over 2,000 miles to be by his bedside. As soon as she entered the hospital room she laid her hands on his brow without saying a word. Instantly he siad, “Mother, is that you? It must be you!” She hadn’t spoken, but he knew the tender touch of her hand.
That’s the way it is with God. We can’t see Him, and yet we feel His touch upon our lives. We speak to Him but receive no audible answer. And yet we leave His presence calmed and consoled as a child.
“He Touched Me”
4. GOD COMFORTS US BY HIS GENEROSITY
“Here, here now,” says mother, drying our tears. “Let me fix your favorite dessert. Come into the kitchen. We can talk for a while.” She is generous, not only with her goods, but with her time, understanding and love.
Illustration: A mother who had twelve children was asked which one she loved the best. Her answer: "The one who’s sick until he gets well; and the one who is away until he gets back home!"
Again, that’s the way God is. He heals, gladdens, sympathizes, loves and cares as no mother could.
The most generous act of God on our behalf was when Jesus offered Himself as the atoning sacrifice for our sin.
5. GOD COMFORTS US THROUGH HIS CHILDREN
Remember the time she took you to the doctor?
Remember the time she sent your older brother or sister to help you with that homework?
Remember the times she saw that you were in church and Sunday school so that you could hear about God’s love?
God is a lot like that. He often sends someone to us just when we need them most...a card comes, a phone call, a personal visit, a prayer.
Illus.: My call to Joe Liddick, not knowing his dad had just died. How timely. An accident or Prividential?
Yes, God does have mother-like qualities. He comforts us by His PRESENCE, BY His WORDS, by His SILENCE by His GENEROSITY, and by SENDING OTHERS to us.
Here the word of the Lord again: “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.”
