Your Maker Is Your Husband Series

This morning, for our Mother’s Day message, I’m going to approach this holiday from a different angle. The normal approach is to celebrate our mothers and compliment them for their many sacrifices, which is definitely warranted; however, today, I going to share some practical help from the Scripture; words that will bring hope to both single women, and to mothers, who are struggling. Now, traditionally, when we envision a mother, we imagine a woman who has children, of course; and one who comes from a happy marriage relationship. But that’s not the reality of the world in which we live. So, I’m going to start by painting a picture of reality.

Today, many people are forgoing marriage, as they are afraid of commitment; but often, it’s the man who’s afraid of commitment, and the woman just goes along with it. They may even have a child out of wedlock; but deep down inside, the woman has always envisioned her fairy-tale wedding, and imagined spending her life and raising a child with someone she could grow old with. And though she may never voice her feelings, this woman is struggling with rejection and insecurity; and if she comes from a Christian upbringing, she’s also struggling with the morality of her choices.

On the flip side, there are single women who are not in any kind of relationship, and who desire very much to be married and have children; but they want to do things the traditional way and get married. And then, there are single mothers who made a bad choice when they were younger; and they think that no one will have them, feeling as though they are damaged goods. They too want to be married, but they have lost hope that it will ever happen for them.

And then there are widows; and let me remind you that a widow doesn’t have to be a senior citizen. There are many young mothers out there who have lost their husband to some tragic accident, such as a car wreck, a job-related fatality, or even on the battlefield serving our country. There are also older widows, who have had the ideal marriage and raised a family, who now have adult children, but have recently lost their husband. As a widow, whether young or old, these women are struggling with the pain of loss and feelings of helplessness and loneliness.

So, the reality of motherhood, in this fallen world in which we live, is that there are women who desire to get married and start a family and can’t; and then there are single mothers out there, who have either had a child out of wedlock, or who have become a widow. You might even find a married mother who’s in an abusive relation, and their marriage is nowhere near picture perfect. All of these women are struggling emotionally; but in God’s Word we find hope and encouragement. We’re going to see how the Lord comforts both the single and the widow like a loving husband.

Based on a statement found in our passage, I’ve entitled our message this morning, “Your Maker Is Your Husband.” And we’re going to get started with Isaiah 54, verses 1-4.

Comfort for the Unloved (vv. 1-4)

1 “Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited. 4 Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.”

Before we go any further, allow me to share the context behind this passage. The people in this chapter, to whom Isaiah was speaking, were the citizens of Judah, or southern Israel. Around 721 B.C., Judah was overtaken by Assyria. The Israelites’ land was ravaged, some of their people were carried off to Assyria, and they wondered why they had been abandoned by the Lord. Isaiah observed that Judah and its capital were “full of crimes of all sorts: rebellion, meaningless religious ritualism, outright idolatry, flagrant injustice, self-satisfied arrogance, and drunkenness.”(1) And because of these things, God abandoned His people to the Assyrians.

Here in our passage, through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord was speaking to Judah. The people of Judah had gone astray from the Lord by committing horrendous sins, and forgetting their relationship with God. In reading the book of Hosea we learn that, when the Israelites went astray from the Lord, this behavior was viewed by God as spiritual adultery; or rather, spiritual infidelity or unfaithfulness.