A Mother's Heart (Paperback)

Chapter One

GOD'S MIRRORS

Mother is the name for God in the lips
and hearts of little children.
—William Makepeace Thackeray

* * *

"As one whom his mother comforteth,
so will I comfort you."
—Isaiah 66:13

* * *

God loves us the way a good mother loves—
totally, unconditionally, with a nurturing and
ever-present care. In fact, as mothers, our love for
our children is only a dim reflection of the love
God has for His people.

God's Image in Motherhood

When the apostle Paul preached to the people of Athens, he told them, "You have been worshiping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him. He is the God who made the world and everything in it.... He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is.... His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist.... `We are his offspring'" (Acts 17:23-25, 27-28 NLT).

    In other words, Paul is saying a mother's relationship with her children is a perfect example of God's love for us, whether we know His name or not. Paul doesn't explicitly mention mothers, of course—but mothers are the ones who give life, the ones who constantly meet their children's physical needs from the moment of conception. During pregnancy, the baby literally lives and moves and has its being within the mother. And I believe that Paul is drawing the analogy between that intimate, physical dependency which the baby has on its mother, and our own relationship with God. Our nurturing, life-giving God offers us a constant and ever-present love—like a mother.

    Fatherhood is the metaphor we usually use to relate to God—and obviously, the father image is one that illumines for many the power and love we find in God's nature. But God has given us glimpses of Himself in all of our human relationships. Christ is also the Baby, the innocent Child, and He is also our Brother and our Friend. Even the relationship between animal and human shows us something of God's love for us—think about the Good Shepherd. Any pet lover experiences a wonderful metaphor for the care and interest and delight that God feels for us. Given all that, it only makes sense that we also find God in motherhood.

    The prophet Isaiah spoke of God as a mother who holds her baby on her lap. He compared the tie between God and His people to that between a nursing mother and her child—and we mothers who nursed our babies know just how intense that tie is. Christ Himself said He longed to gather Jerusalem to Him, like a mother hen gathers her chicks. He could have said, "I long to fight all your enemies, the way a rooster will defend his brood"—but instead He used another metaphor, one that shows Him to be nurturing, protective, and longing for closeness the way a mother longs to snuggle her children.

    In Him we live and move and have our being. What does that mean? For those of us mothers who have been pregnant, think about what the experience is like. Wherever you go, no matter what, the baby is with you, enclosed in your flesh, cushioned by your body. You are so close to your baby that it probably doesn't even know you're there, because you are its world. Your body supplies its every need. Without any effort on the baby's part, it is enclosed in love, nurtured at every moment.

    And as Paul said to the Athenians—that's how it is with God. We're so used to thinking of ourselves as struggling toward God; we use concepts like fighting and exercising and mountain climbing to think of the spiritual journey—and yes, we need those metaphors, and Paul himself made use of them in other places. But meanwhile, all the while, we're simply surrounded by God, without any effort whatsoever on our part. In Him we live and move and have our being—He is so close to us, so intimately connected to our lives, that we cannot even comprehend how dependent we are on Him. As Paul says later in his letter to the Romans, we can never be separated from the love of God. We are enclosed in it, just as a baby is in its mother's womb.

    Because God's love is reflected in ours, our children will learn about God simply through motherhood's love. Oh, we need to teach our children about God and His Word, we need to read them Bible stories and pray with them, answer their questions and take them to church. We need to live in such a way that they'll see what it means to be a Christian. But on a much more basic level, they'll understand about a God who always hears, because when they were babies we responded to their cries. They'll be able to have faith in a God who meets their needs, because we saw that they never went hungry. God's strength and tenderness will be real to them, because they caught a glimpse of it in our love from the time they were born.

    So, mothers, never let the world tell you that what you do is not important. Remember, when you rock your babies and sing a lullaby, your arms and voice are God's. When you do load after load of dirty diapers, and then grass-stained play clothes, and finally school clothes smeared with ketchup and chocolate pudding, remember, your hands are God's hands. And when you love your children unconditionally, all the way from colic to adolescent rebellion, you are loving with God's love. Through you, He will imprint Himself on your children's hearts. The Holy Spirit will draw them throughout their entire lives, so that one day on the foundation you laid they may build an adult faith in Jesus Christ.

* * *

The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.
—Edna St. Vincent Millay

* * *

"My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."
—Luke 1:46-47

* * *

    As mothers, we can be comforted that not only does God love our children far more than we will ever be able, but He loves us in the same way. We should also be challenged to commit our love for our children to God, to be used by Him as a vehicle to touch our children's lives. This sort of committed love is like a lens that will catch the Spirit's light and magnify it in our children's lives—and as Edna St. Vincent Millay said, this sort of holy love can "split the sky in two," allowing our children to catch a glimpse of God's shining face.

* * *

Be thou my Sun, my selfishness destroy,
Thy atmosphere of Love be all my joy;
Thy Presence be my sunshine ever bright,
My soul the little mote that lives but in Thy light.
—Gerhard Tersteegen

* * *

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the
candles or the mirror that reflects it.
—Edith Wharton

* * *

    Dear God, thank You for Your limitless love. As much as I love my children, I know You love them infinitely more. Please take my flawed, human love for my children and use it for Your glory. Let me be a clear mirror that reflects Your light; help me to magnify You. Amen.

Chapter One

GOD'S MIRRORS

Mother is the name for God in the lips
and hearts of little children.
—William Makepeace Thackeray

* * *

"As one whom his mother comforteth,
so will I comfort you."
—Isaiah 66:13

* * *

God loves us the way a good mother loves—
totally, unconditionally, with a nurturing and
ever-present care. In fact, as mothers, our love for
our children is only a dim reflection of the love
God has for His people.

God's Image in Motherhood

When the apostle Paul preached to the people of Athens, he told them, "You have been worshiping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him. He is the God who made the world and everything in it.... He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is.... His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist.... `We are his offspring'" (Acts 17:23-25, 27-28 NLT).

    In other words, Paul is saying a mother's relationship with her children is a perfect example of God's love for us, whether we know His name or not. Paul doesn't explicitly mention mothers, of course—but mothers are the ones who give life, the ones who constantly meet their children's physical needs from the moment of conception. During pregnancy, the baby literally lives and moves and has its being within the mother. And I believe that Paul is drawing the analogy between that intimate, physical dependency which the baby has on its mother, and our own relationship with God. Our nurturing, life-giving God offers us a constant and ever-present love—like a mother.

    Fatherhood is the metaphor we usually use to relate to God—and obviously, the father image is one that illumines for many the power and love we find in God's nature. But God has given us glimpses of Himself in all of our human relationships. Christ is also the Baby, the innocent Child, and He is also our Brother and our Friend. Even the relationship between animal and human shows us something of God's love for us—think about the Good Shepherd. Any pet lover experiences a wonderful metaphor for the care and interest and delight that God feels for us. Given all that, it only makes sense that we also find God in motherhood.

    The prophet Isaiah spoke of God as a mother who holds her baby on her lap. He compared the tie between God and His people to that between a nursing mother and her child—and we mothers who nursed our babies know just how intense that tie is. Christ Himself said He longed to gather Jerusalem to Him, like a mother hen gathers her chicks. He could have said, "I long to fight all your enemies, the way a rooster will defend his brood"—but instead He used another metaphor, one that shows Him to be nurturing, protective, and longing for closeness the way a mother longs to snuggle her children.

    In Him we live and move and have our being. What does that mean? For those of us mothers who have been pregnant, think about what the experience is like. Wherever you go, no matter what, the baby is with you, enclosed in your flesh, cushioned by your body. You are so close to your baby that it probably doesn't even know you're there, because you are its world. Your body supplies its every need. Without any effort on the baby's part, it is enclosed in love, nurtured at every moment.

    And as Paul said to the Athenians—that's how it is with God. We're so used to thinking of ourselves as struggling toward God; we use concepts like fighting and exercising and mountain climbing to think of the spiritual journey—and yes, we need those metaphors, and Paul himself made use of them in other places. But meanwhile, all the while, we're simply surrounded by God, without any effort whatsoever on our part. In Him we live and move and have our being—He is so close to us, so intimately connected to our lives, that we cannot even comprehend how dependent we are on Him. As Paul says later in his letter to the Romans, we can never be separated from the love of God. We are enclosed in it, just as a baby is in its mother's womb.

    Because God's love is reflected in ours, our children will learn about God simply through motherhood's love. Oh, we need to teach our children about God and His Word, we need to read them Bible stories and pray with them, answer their questions and take them to church. We need to live in such a way that they'll see what it means to be a Christian. But on a much more basic level, they'll understand about a God who always hears, because when they were babies we responded to their cries. They'll be able to have faith in a God who meets their needs, because we saw that they never went hungry. God's strength and tenderness will be real to them, because they caught a glimpse of it in our love from the time they were born.

    So, mothers, never let the world tell you that what you do is not important. Remember, when you rock your babies and sing a lullaby, your arms and voice are God's. When you do load after load of dirty diapers, and then grass-stained play clothes, and finally school clothes smeared with ketchup and chocolate pudding, remember, your hands are God's hands. And when you love your children unconditionally, all the way from colic to adolescent rebellion, you are loving with God's love. Through you, He will imprint Himself on your children's hearts. The Holy Spirit will draw them throughout their entire lives, so that one day on the foundation you laid they may build an adult faith in Jesus Christ.

* * *

The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.
—Edna St. Vincent Millay

* * *

"My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."
—Luke 1:46-47

* * *

    As mothers, we can be comforted that not only does God love our children far more than we will ever be able, but He loves us in the same way. We should also be challenged to commit our love for our children to God, to be used by Him as a vehicle to touch our children's lives. This sort of committed love is like a lens that will catch the Spirit's light and magnify it in our children's lives—and as Edna St. Vincent Millay said, this sort of holy love can "split the sky in two," allowing our children to catch a glimpse of God's shining face.

* * *

Be thou my Sun, my selfishness destroy,
Thy atmosphere of Love be all my joy;
Thy Presence be my sunshine ever bright,
My soul the little mote that lives but in Thy light.
—Gerhard Tersteegen

* * *

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the
candles or the mirror that reflects it.
—Edith Wharton

* * *

    Dear God, thank You for Your limitless love. As much as I love my children, I know You love them infinitely more. Please take my flawed, human love for my children and use it for Your glory. Let me be a clear mirror that reflects Your light; help me to magnify You. Amen.