2. Mothering is …..for all women.
God instilled in all women the longing to mother and nurture.
Let’s take a look at Hannah, the mother of Samuel….
-1 Sam. 1:4-8
“And when the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, (Elkanah is her husband) he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb.
Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb”
(Let me point out that God emphasizes this twice-the Lord closed her womb. -God is the author of Life. He alone opens and closes the womb. Not birth control or whatever. He allows life.)
And it happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she would provoke her, so she wept and would not eat.
Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
Hannah’s husband could not fill the motherly longing Hannah had to have a child.
Proverbs 30:15-16
“There are three things that will not be satisfied,
Four that will not say, ‘Enough’
Sheol and the barren womb
Earth that is never satisfied with water,
And fire that never says, ‘Enough’.
Barrenness was considered a curse. Time and time again in the Old Testament God gives his blessing, and it’s to multiply their descendants; as many as the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea or the dust of the earth, or the grass of the field. But when they sinned He brought judgement usually by thinning their numbers.
Deuteronomy 28:62
“Then you shall be left few in number whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you did not obey the Lord your God”
Leviticus 26: 21-22
“If then you act with hostility against me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. And I will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted.”
Luke 1: 24-25
And after these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant; and she kept herself in seclusion for five months saying, ‘This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.’”
Barrenness was a disgrace. So many women today choose disgrace. Deuteronomy 7:14 says, “Thou shalt be blessed above all people.” What was the blessing that set Israel apart from everyone else? “There shall be no male or female barren among you.”
We made a choice after our second child to trust God to plan our family. And I have to be honest, it wasn’t the easiest thing to do. By the fifth child, we thought, “How many children are we really going to have?” I was only 28, so I had a lot of years left, we could have a lot of children. But it was really only my fear of allowing God to work in my life at play there.
God calls children a gift and a reward.
Psalm 127:3
“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord;
The Fruit of the womb is a reward
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
The message Bible translation of Psalm 127:3 is “Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? The fruit of the womb His generous legacy?”
Psalm 128: 3
“Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within your house
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.”
God tells us He wants to give us gifts and we say, ‘Great! God I really need a new car and a new house and a new wardrobe.’ God says, ‘No, I’m going to bless you with a baby.’ Then we think, ‘Um, I’m not sure I want that gift.’ God wants Godly offspring. Malachi scolds the nation of Israel for not bringing up Godly offspring after they returned from exile.
God has reaffirmed our choice many times. So often older couples have come up to me in a store, or where ever, when I have the children with me, and they’ll tell me I’m blessed. And many times they confess that they wished they’d had more.
What if you want children but can’t have any? We know we live in a fallen world, and sometimes God allows couples who want children not to be able to have them and vice versa. We don’t always understand God’s ways, but God always works things out for His good and His purposes. If you don’t have children, you are still a motherly role model . Remember, Eve was called mother before she even had children. Stay faithful to God, He still preserves you if you are a faithful woman with a heart for his design.
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