Mothers In Joy And In Sorrow

From the very beginning, God told us that because of the sin of Eve, women would endure pain in childbearing.

The pain is not only in the birthing process, but also the pain of sin. The first mother, Eve, had the pain of her son Cain killing her son Abel. We’ve seen the indescribable joy of a mother with her newborn, and also the joy of a mother going to her child’s performance, recital, graduation, and wedding. You’ve heard the joy of a mother telling you her child is on the Dean’s List or of their promotion at work. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say they wished they could have been Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Mary was the mother we all admire and esteem. She was a young girl who was misjudged and ostracized; an unwed mother. Even her boyfriend was ready to break their engagement but an angel asked Joseph to stay with Mary. Mary is honored, but she had her pain. She had the pain of the mystery of the child that was from her flesh but yet came from God and belonged to God. She continually had to surrender her flesh to God so that the Spirit of God would prevail. Mary saw her son being misunderstood, doubted, abused, and finally her eyes looked on his flesh suffering on the cross. As a mother, Mary had pain.

We see the pain of some single mothers—financial constraints and the lack of emotional support to raise their children. We see mothers who endure abuse from their spouse, and mothers who have children suffering with handicaps, special needs, and chronic diseases.

We know there are mothers in countries where there is no work, and food is scarce. Their pain is the daily survival to give their child bread to live.

There are mothers in pain because their child overdosed on drugs and died. I know mothers in pain because their child gave up on life and committed suicide.

I know mothers whose child is in prison from making bad life choices. I know mothers whose child chooses an alternate lifestyle. I know mothers in pain because of conflict in the family and siblings out of relationship with one another. I know mothers in pain because their children have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. The list of pain is endless.

In whatever way you as a mother are in pain today, I would like to encourage you…to remind you…that when Jesus was on the cross, in His own agony and suffering, He looked on His mother. As His mother was suffering watching her son, Jesus called on His beloved friend, John, to take care of His mother.

Jesus is the One who still sees and knows and He cares. Your pain is His pain, and He wants you to look to Him for strength and courage to be faithful to your call to mother your children. All you can do is what you can do. God can do the rest.

This Mother’s Day, I want to be in prayer with great heart tenacity to encourage mothers who are in pain to lift their heads to our God of mercy and the One who can do the impossible. Never give up. Keep on being the mother God has called you to be. ~Jeanne DeTellis Loudon