Motherhood in the Bible: Joy, Sorrow, and Hope

Genesis chapter 1, verses 27 and just a little

Genesis 1:27

bit of verse 28. Genesis chapter 1. Don't have

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

to turn far in your Bible for that. Right there

at the beginning. Probably on the first page.

Maybe the second. Genesis chapter 1, verse 27

Genesis 1:27

is where we will begin. I'm going to read quite

a few scriptures today. We'll go through them

pretty quickly, so if you don't have time to

find them or jot them down as we go through them,

please ask me afterwards. I'll be glad to tell

you what they were, so you can look them up and

study them yourself. Genesis chapter 1, verse

Genesis 1:27

27, and the first little part of verse 28. We'll

read it, and then we'll pray. So God created

man in his own image. He created him in the image

of God. He created them male and female. God

blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply,

fill the earth, and subdue it. Let's pray. God,

we come to you today and we thank you that we

have the freedom and the privilege to come and

to study your word. I thank you for our mothers

today, dear Lord, and the blessing that it is

to have mothers in our life, the blessing that

it is for a mother to give birth to a child,

dear Lord, and to raise that child. We just thank

you that we can come together and worship you.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among us

today. I pray that you would help me to preach

and teach in a way that brings glory and honor

to you, that you take away any pride or any fear

that's within me, dear Lord, that you just would...

Grab ahold of us right now that you'd help us

to be free of our worries and distractions and

sorrows and pains that may be with us today,

dear Lord. We know that it's a special day, but

dear Lord, I also know that for some it's a tough

day, that Mother's Day is not always easy, dear

Lord. And so I pray, God, that you would just

help us to just find peace in you. God, whatever's

on our heart today, I pray that you just would

bring joy to our heart before we leave. And I

ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We don't

have to turn very far when we open our Bible

to see this beautiful command that God gave to

men and women. That he gave first to Adam and

Eve, but I believe also to you and I. After God

had created the world, He told man and woman

to be fruitful and multiply. That is, have kids

and have a lot of kids. And there were a couple

reasons for that, I think. One is, I think, that

there needed to be humanity. God wanted to fill

the earth. He created this beautiful earth. He

is a God of love. What good is love if you can't

share it with somebody? He creates humanity.

He shares his love with them. He provides for

them. He takes care of them. And he wants that

cycle of love to continue, I believe. Just as

God had created us, God wanted us to bring life

into the world through one man and one woman,

through marriage, through building a family.

That is so important, I believe, in the Word

of God, and I'm sad to say that it's not so important

in our world today. But God said, be fruitful

and multiply. And I don't think that that was

just an old commandment for back then. I don't

think God had in mind that I want people to have

children until there's enough people in the world,

and then y 'all can kind of slack up and do your

own thing. I don't know that that's what God

intended. I think that God probably intended

for us to continue to build families with one

man and one woman coming together freely and

totally committed to one another as companions

for life and joining and starting a new family

and being fruitful and multiplying and bringing

children into the world. And not just bringing

children into the world, but... but raising those

children and teaching those children, helping

them to get ready for the world that is before

them. And this is such a beautiful, beautiful

structure that God has created from the get -go.

He created families. And it's so sad that we

look around today and we see that what God started

at the beginning is under attack. And we need

to look at this scripture and we need to take

it to heart. Because I believe that when fathers

and mothers stay together and are fruitful and

multiply and bring children into the world and

raise those children and love those children,

I believe that that is one of the greatest gifts

that we possibly could have in this world. And

I think having children, being a mother, I think

sometimes gets pushed to the back burner a little

bit in our society. Our world changes, our culture

changes, our culture values certain things, puts

high value on certain things. And I'm not implying

that some of the things that our culture values

are necessarily bad. But sometimes the things

that our culture values keep us from... from

doing what God calls us to do and finding a joy

that's only established by living according to

what God's commands are. Now, we'll tell our

young women today, here's what you need to do.

You need to get established and you need to go

to college and you need to get a career and you

need to be successful before you start thinking

about having a family. And some of you parents

are saying, uh -oh, I don't like what you're

saying. Well, I'm not saying that going to college

and getting a career are a bad thing. What I

am saying is that starting a family and raising

kids is also not a bad thing. And I know that

that's probably not at the forefront of many

of you parents who have kids, and you say, well,

that's easy for you to say what you're saying.

You don't have kids. But all I'm saying is that

there's something beautiful about bringing a

child into the world. There's a joy. I believe

that comes from that. And you ladies, you can

come up to me and you can correct me afterwards

and you can say, brother, you got it all wrong.

So I'll not say these things again. But I believe

that there is a joy that probably comes from

being a mother. And I'm going to guess that it's

probably the greatest joy that there ever has

been in this world. I can't imagine that any

of you ladies would come to me after church.

golly, I hope I'm wrong, and say to me, yeah,

I love my kids, but my career, do you know how

successful I was? I just hope and pray that none

of you will do that after church, and I don't

think that you will. There are so many women

in this world that went the way of the world

and said, I want to go to school, and I want

to get an education, and I want to get a career,

and I'm not saying that's bad, and I'm not trying

to talk any ladies out of that, but there's a

lot of ladies that followed that worldly path.

And then one day they had a child and they said,

holy smokes, I don't want a career. I want to

have kids. And I think that that's the way that

God intended it to be. I think that's where a

real joy comes from. I think it's in a mother.

I think it's in a woman. I think being a mother

is in us. I think that there's some desire in

women to be mothers. And I think there's that

same desire to be fathers. I think that God has

created us that way. I think it's clear from

the beginning that God created us that way. And

we get caught up in the ways of the world and

we kind of forget the real joy and the real blessing

that God established from the get -go. Hey, have

a family. Raise up those kids. Teach those kids.

Maybe a better career than going to the office

every day is teaching your kids every day instead

of sending them off to daycare. Now, who in the

world is going to teach your kids and take care

of them better than you are, mothers? I don't

suspect anybody is. Because you care about them

more than you care about anyone else in the world.

And so you love them and you pour into them everything.

And I believe that that's the way that God has

intended it to be for us as human beings, for

men, and for women. I think a lot of the problems

in our world would change in just a short time

if mothers would be mothers and fathers would

be fathers and families would be families. I

think it would solve a lot of our problems because

this is the way that God intended for it to be.

Being a mother, I believe, occurs instantly.

As soon as that husband and wife, come together

in that moment through that miracle that God

performs. Ever how that works in our bodies?

I don't know how it all works out, but in that

moment, God begins to form a child in the womb

of that mother. We see that in Psalm 139, verse

Psalms 139:13

13 and 14. For it was you who created my inward

parts. You knit me together in my mother's womb.

What a beautiful and simple passage that David

acknowledged that even in his mother's womb that

God had begun to create life. And that's important

for us to remember. Man, that's under attack

today. It's amazing that as a culture we are

so far in the wrong way that we can't even acknowledge

what life is. That the moment of conception that

a child is formed in the womb, by God himself,

that God begins to knit us together. What a beautiful,

beautiful picture that is for us to consider.

That in that moment of conception that a mother

becomes a mother. I don't believe it's at the

moment of birth. I believe it's at the moment

of conception that a mother begins to feel that

joy. Some of you mothers get that. You grandmothers

get that and grandfathers get that and fathers

get that. When you get that call and they say,

I'm pregnant. And what a joy begins to come into

your mind and your heart and then a fear saying,

oh no, what am I going to do? I've got to be

a parent now. But nevertheless, the joy is so

beautiful and so powerful. And we see that in

Scripture. Psalm 113 verse 9 says, He gave the

Psalms 113:9

childish woman a household, making her the joyful.

Mother of children. Scripture says joy comes

from being a mother. This is a gift of God. That

there is a joyfulness that a woman finds out

that she is pregnant with a child. That she will

soon give birth. And from that moment that joy

begins to build and build. And I can only imagine

a moment that that child comes into the world.

That moment that that child begins to cry. That

moment that you hold that child in your arms.

I would imagine, I'm inexperienced here, but

I would imagine that that's probably a life -changing

moment. I feel like it probably changes a man

and changes a woman. In a moment, you realize

that you are not the most important thing anymore.

In a moment, you realize, mothers, that this

child, is dependent on you. It's been dependent

on you for nine months, and now it's going to

be dependent on you for a lifetime, and that's

such a big responsibility and such a beautiful

responsibility. And there's great joy, the Scripture

says, that comes with being a mother. In John

John 16:21

chapter 16, verse 21, Jesus uses this example.

He's not talking about motherhood here necessarily,

But nevertheless, he uses this example of motherhood.

He says, when a woman is in labor, she has pain

because her time has come. But when she has given

birth to a child, she no longer remembers the

suffering because of the joy that a person has

been born in the world. Jesus acknowledges the

truth that you mothers here today know. That

there is so much joy. in that child, that pregnancy

is so difficult and painful and for nine months

it's a struggle and up until the very moment

the child is handed to you there's pain and in

that moment, Jesus says, the joy far surpasses

the pain. And so we see from the get -go that

God has established what he desires for children

to be born. And I believe God still desires that

today. I believe He still desires for men and

women to marry and to come together and to give

birth to a children and for mothers to be able

to raise up and care for their children as only

they can. You want to read about a good mother?

If you're a mother and you're wondering what

it means to be a good mother or if you think

you're going to be a mother one day and wondering

what it means to be a good mother, then you can

read Proverbs 31. If you're a man and you're

looking for a good wife and you're a man and

you're married to a woman who's the mother of

your child and you want to see what it looks

like for a man to be appreciative of his wife,

then read Proverbs 31. If you're a child and

you want to see what it looks like to have a

good mom that gives everything and provides for

you, then read Proverbs 31, starting verse 10.

And a beautiful proverb that talks about What

a blessing it is to have a wife who is capable

and who is strong and who is smart and who is

hardworking and who takes care of her husband

and who provides all of her needs for her children.

And that's what a mother does. That's what a

mother does. And that's a beautiful, beautiful

passage. I encourage you to read it today before

the day is over. And so Mother's Day is a good

day in a lot of ways. Mother's Day is a day that

we realize the beauty of what it means to give

birth. We celebrate the joy that mothers have

as they bring a child into the world. For those

of us whose mothers are with us, we celebrate

our mothers today. We cook them a feast. We take

them out to dinner. We buy them a nice gift and

praise the Lord. It's good that we can... honor

our mothers today and that's what Mother's Day

is, is a day that we honor and celebrate and

for some of us it's remembering our mothers.

For some, our mothers have gone on before us

and in that sense, for some it's a sad day. And

so even though Mother's Day is certainly a day

of rejoicing and a day of celebration, there's

also another side of Mother's Day that is...

filled with pain and sorrow for those of us who

have lost a mother or for mothers who have lost

a child. I don't suppose that there's any greater

joy than giving birth to a child, and I don't

suppose that there's any greater pain than losing

a child. We see lots of examples in Scripture

of what it means to be a mother, and we see examples

of mothers and children, Just look at a few of

these examples today because maybe they'll be

helpful for us this morning. In 2 Kings 4, verse

2 Kings 4:1

1, we see a widow lady who has children. Her

husband has died, and she's in trouble. In 2

2 Kings 4:1

Kings 4, verse 1, it says, One of the wives of

the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha.

Your servant, your husband, has died. You know

that your servant feared the Lord. Now the creditor

is coming to take my children as his slaves.

Now here's an example of a mother that maybe

some of you can relate to today. Some of you

here or some of you online. Here's a single mother

who's trying to raise her children and she's

in big trouble because she has no way to provide

for them. And she's fearful that she's going

to lose her children because she doesn't have

the means to take care of them. But God provided.

I encourage you to go and read 2 Kings chapter

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

4. She approached Elijah and said, Look, I don't

know what I'm doing. I'm a single mother. I'm

struggling. I don't know how I'm going to get

by. And Elijah... He tells her to do something

cool. He says, look, what you got? She said,

I got some oil. He says, look, get your sons

to gather up all the jugs they can. You keep

pouring into that what you got from your jug

of oil into these other jugs, these empty jugs,

and whatever you have, sell it. She keeps pouring

and pouring and pouring in her little jug of

oil. It just keeps pouring and pouring and pouring

until they had filled up every empty container

they could find. And Elijah says, go sell it.

Pay off the creditor. and use the rest for you

and your sons. It's a beautiful story of God

taking care of a mother and her children. God

hasn't changed. God will still take care of mothers

and children today. There may be some of you

who are struggling today, but I want you to know

that God cares about you and He still will be

there to take care of you if you would just call

out to Him this morning. The book of Esther,

one of my favorite books. And all of scripture.

It tells us about a young Jewish girl. Through

some crazy circumstances. Ended up being king.

We see in Esther chapter 2 verse 7. It says Mordecai

Esther 2:7

was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah.

That is Esther. Because she didn't have a father

or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure.

And was extremely good looking. When her father

and mother died. adopted her as his own daughter.

Here's a story of a young lady whose parents

weren't there, whose father had passed and whose

mother had passed. And perhaps for some today,

that is your story. And it's tough on days like

today. We come and we celebrate and we rejoice

in our mothers, But we have to remember that

it's not a day of rejoicing for everyone. That

some are no different than Queen Esther. That

they've lost a parent, that they've lost a mother.

And you know the pain of that. But again, in

the story of Queen Esther, for any children who

are in that situation today, the story of Queen

Esther is another beautiful example of how God

works. Of how God takes someone in a... in a

rough situation, in a tough situation, in a painful

situation, and he uses them in a powerful way

to do his work and to do his will. Another story

is found in Exodus chapter 2. It's the story

Exodus 2 · chapter mention

of a guy named Moses. In Exodus chapter 2, verse

Exodus 2:1

1, it says, Now a man from the family of Levi

married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant

and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he

was beautiful, she hid him for three months.

When she could no longer hide him, she got a

papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt

and pitch. She placed the child in it and set

it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. This

is a wild story. All of the... All of the male

babies were to be killed. And here Moses' mother

gave birth to him, and she couldn't bear to see

that her son was going to be killed. And she

placed him in a basket and throws him in the

river. He's found by the daughter of Pharaoh.

Pharaoh's daughter sees him and decides to adopt

him. And here Moses, a Hebrew child, is raised

in the palace of Pharaoh. Man, what a complicated

family situation. Didn't know who his mother

was, his real mother was, and yet his real mother

was taking care of him all along. It's like a

soap opera. It's just a crazy story. It's complicated.

And maybe that's the story for some of us today,

for some of the mothers or some of the children

that are here today or listening online today.

Man, you read Moses' story and you say, I can

relate. My life is complicated. Family is sometimes

messy. It's not good. It's not what God desires.

But the fact of the matter is that sometimes

families are messy. And sometimes children are

raised by other folks. And sometimes in crazy

situations. And sometimes there's some relationship

with the mom or not a good relationship with

the mom. Some of our situations are complicated.

Moses' situation was complicated, but God was

good. God is able to take complicated situations,

as tough and as painful as they may be, and God

allowed Moses to be there for a purpose because

a few years later, as Moses grew into an adult,

It was Moses that God was going to use, and if

it hadn't been for all that complicated family

junk that was going on, Moses would have never

been able to have been used by God. And yet through

it all, as messy as it was at the beginning,

God was able to use Moses in a mighty way. And

so it is for us. Maybe some of you today are

not so unlike Moses' mother. Maybe you had a

tough decision to make for a child in the past.

It's hard to live with those decisions. Maybe

some of you today are like Moses as a child and

living with someone else and things are tough.

But in every one of these stories, in every one

of these examples, we see God at work. We see

God through the brokenness. We see God through

the pain. We see God taking care of the mothers.

We see God taking care of the children. And he

is still faithful to do so today. We see in 1

1 Samuel 1:27

Samuel 1, verses 27 and 28, a beautiful story

of a woman named Hannah. And she desperately

wanted a child. And she prayed earnestly that

God would give her a child. And God heard her

prayer and God granted her request. And after

she received her child, she says in 1 Samuel

127, I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord

gave me what I asked him for, I now give the

boy to the Lord, for as long as he lives, he

is given to the Lord. Now here's a beautiful

example of a mother who received something that

was the most precious thing and the most joyful

thing that she had ever desired. And then she

released him to the service of the Lord. Said,

God, he's yours. God, I'm giving him to you.

And maybe there are some mothers who struggle

with a similar thing today. Maybe not in the

same way that Hannah did. But nevertheless, for

mothers, there comes a time that we have to release

our children. that we have to say, okay, God

has given me this precious gift, and I've had

them this time, and I've enjoyed them, and I

thank God for them, but there comes a time where

you have to let them go, where you have to say,

all right, God's given me this gift, and God,

I entrust them to you, and God, I pray that you

use them for your service in some way, and I

pray that you bless them to go out into the world,

and God, I gotta let them go. I don't know if

any of you have ever read the book Kisses from

Katie. I would encourage you to read that book

if you're a parent, especially a parent of young

ladies. It's a great book. I know I've referenced

it in the past, but it's really phenomenal. Katie

was a young lady who, as a teenager, about 16,

really began to have a desire for overseas missions.

really begin to pursue that and think about that

and drop hints to her parents about that, that

she was going to go overseas and work. And, of

course, they said, no, you're not going to go

overseas and work. We'll send you to any college

you want. You're going to go, and you're going

to have a career, and you're going to be successful,

and then you can figure out what you want to

do, but you've got to get established, and you're

not going overseas. And she was persistent. She

was so persistent. that God had put it on her

heart that she needed to go. And so finally,

her senior year of high school, she had convinced

her parents that, could I just go for a few weeks?

Could I go to Africa for just a few weeks on

a mission trip? And they said, if you can find

somebody to go, you can go. And she, of course,

couldn't find anybody to go, which they probably

knew who could take off for a month and go to

Africa. But she was so persistent and she begged

and she pleaded. And finally, one of her parents

went with her on the trip. And they thought that

would scratch the itch. She'd get it out of her

system. But it only ignited that flame that much

more. And she had such a heart for children in

Africa and the conditions there and the situation

there. And so many of these children that just

needed to be loved. And the time came that she

graduated from high school and she told her parents,

I'm going to Africa. And they did not like that

a bit. And you mothers and fathers can relate

to that. Because if your daughter told you today,

I'm going to Africa, this is what God has called

me to do, you would have the same reaction as

her parents. She would say, no, you're not. But

she said, this is what God has called me to do.

This is where God has called me to go. And so

reluctantly, against everything within them,

they had to release their daughter to go do the

work. of the Lord. And Katie's story is phenomenal.

She went to Africa and she did just what she

set out to do. As far as I know, she's still

there today. She began to go and she began to

bring children from these villages that had no

families, that had nobody to take care of them.

She began to adopt them as her own. She became

a mother in ways that she never imagined. All

because she followed the will of God. And all

because she had a mother who said, golly, as

much as I want to hang on to you, as much as

I want you to do what I want you to do, I want

you to do what God wants you to do more. And

that's exactly what Hannah had to do. She had

to say, okay, son, okay, daughter, I'm letting

you go. As much as I love you, I have to let

you go. There's a lot of mothers that's had to

do that. And some more of you that is getting

close. And I suspect that that's not easy. But

if God's calling your child to something, don't

hinder them. Release them to the Lord. There's

another beautiful story in 2 Kings chapter 4.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

Right after the first story we read where there's

a lady who knows Elijah. She had been blessed

with a son later in her age, and one day the

son was out with the father, and he started complaining,

my head, my head. And so naturally, the father

did what most men do, take him to his mama. And

so they took him to his mother and placed the

child on the mother's lap, and there the child

died in his mother's arms. But his mother was

a woman of faith. And she said, I'm going to

go see Elijah, get the donkey ready, send a servant

with me. And the husband's like, what are you

doing? Why are you going to do this? And she

says, in 2 Kings 4, verse 23, she says, everything

2 Kings 4:23

is all right. Now, this woman had just lost her

child. And she said, everything is all right.

And she had experienced a great pain. But she

continued to trust in the Lord. And she sins

for Elijah and Elijah comes and the boy is brought

back to life. He's given life again. And a woman's

trust and faith in the Lord shown to be true.

That God did care for the son that she had received.

Now I know for many, Mothers today, it's a hard

day because there are many mothers who have lost

a child. Now I know in the story of Elisha that

Elisha came through and the child was resurrected.

And I know that in this world, we don't experience

those types of miracles. Perhaps sometimes, but

often not. But even still today, for the mothers

who have lost a child, I want to encourage you

today, and I want you to hear the words of this

lady who said everything is all right. Not because

Elisha has come to our rescue in those hard times,

but because of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of

God. And Jesus, too, had a mother. And in John

John 19:25

chapter 19, verse 25, At the end of Jesus' life

as he is hung on a cross, just a short little

section of scripture there that says, standing

by the cross was Jesus' mother. A mother who

knows the loss of a child, but a mother whose

child would give life to us. for those who have

passed on, for those who have gone before us,

it is because of Jesus Christ that we can rejoice

today and that we can say everything is okay.

That death does not have the final say today.

That for some, God has taken their children home,

but praise the Lord that death does not have

the final say, that Jesus Christ has the final

say. That he died on a cross and he said it's

finished, it's all done, it's all accomplished,

everything is taken care of. Because one mother's

son was willing to give everything for you and

I. So the Bible is full of examples of mothers

and children who are not so unlike us today.

Children who have great mothers and who are blessed.

Children who have sometimes tough situations

and mothers who have tough situations and mothers

who struggle and mothers who have experienced

loss. And that's all of us today. That's everybody

in this room. That's everybody listening online.

There's a story we have, but every one of our

stories involves a mother. Every single one of

us comes from a mother. And so today we rejoice.

In the gift of motherhood. In the gift of God

giving us the ability to bring life into this

world and with it great joy. And may you women

of this church and you mothers of this church

continue to have joy in your children and continue

to bring children into this world and to rejoice

in that great gift. We rejoice today for our

mothers but we also Lift up a prayer for those

who may be struggling today for whatever reason.

For some, it's a tough day. And so for all, we

ask that God would give peace. We give peace

and joy to every mother today, to every child

today. We remember the memories of our mothers

who have gone before us, that we cherish the

memories that are still to be made with our mothers

who are still with us. That we don't take our

mothers for granted, but we rejoice that God

has given them to us. And we rejoice even more

that God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to

be the Savior of the world. Let's pray. God,

we come to You this morning. We thank You for

Your good Word. I pray God that you just help

us to rejoice as we celebrate our great mothers

today and all the blessings that you have given

us through our mothers. Help us to remember the

good times and the good memories of our mothers,

dear Lord. God, I thank you for each one that's

come and each one that's listened online. God,

I pray that you help the ones that may be having

a tough day today. I pray that you give them

strength and encouragement through the truth

of your word, through your love, that you just

give them grace and mercy today. God, I pray

for those whose family may be in kind of a tough

situation right now, dear Lord. We see it. We

see examples of it in Scripture. But I pray that

you would help us to always see that you are

there, God, if we would just seek you, that even

if our situations aren't always the best and

sometimes are complicated and sometimes painful,

dear Lord, that you are so faithful to work things

out for the good of those who trust in you. And

so I pray that we would today, God, that we would

be a people that would trust in you. I thank

you for your word. I thank you for the few moments

we have. And we thank you most of all, dear Lord,

that you give us Jesus Christ today. That whether

we come into this day with joy or with sadness,

that each one of us can have hope and can rejoice

in Jesus Christ, that he was crucified and that

he was resurrected, dear Lord. And that God,

as beautiful as family is in this world, I can't

even imagine how beautiful it's going to be in

the life to come, dear Lord. So I pray, God,

that we would just rejoice in that truth and

that hope we have in Jesus today. And I ask these

things in Jesus' name. Amen.