The Mother is Still a Child



Years ago in another state, in another church, for another child this was the devotional I used at the baby shower. This baby is now a teen. Since God's truth is still the truth no matter the date on the calendar, I pulled it out for the latest baby shower where I am a member.

 One of a child's biggest frustrations is never being in charge. Even as he grows and makes some decisions for himself, his parents always seem ready to be the final authority. At what age does a child first think some variation of "I can't wait to grow up and get to make all the decisions myself!"? Then the day finally arrives. You are a mother. Your days of being a dependent child are over with. But the day has come when I'm sure you're sick of making decisions, when you're so tired of all the responsibilities. You'll remember longingly those days when you could easily crawl up into your daddy's lap, and he could fix anything.
Yes, the time comes when each of us has to accept the fact that we are adults with all the many responsibilities that come with it. The good news is if we belong to God through Christ, that parental comfort never ends and we have no cause to doubt our heavenly comforter. In Isaiah 66:13 God says, "As a mother comforts her child so will I comfort you." God never wants us to grow independent of him, to feel so confident in our own abilities that we think we no longer need to look to him.
Psalm 131 says "My heart is not proud, O Lord, eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me." A weaned child no longer depends on its mother in the same overwhelming way that a nursing newborn does. He is content to stay beside his mother not just because his mother provides him with nourishment but because she has proved herself to be his source of unconditional love. He does not have to wander restlessly seeking what he needs because he knows that she will satisfy. This is the quiet confidence our heavenly Father offers us as we rest in his presence. A still and quiet soul - the ultimate answer to stress. We must remember who we are in the midst of the circumstances of life that threaten to pull us under. If our trust is in Christ, we must know that he is our elder brother and we are united with him. Whether we are 18 or 80 we must together call God, "Father", realizing there is nowhere else to go.
Wait a minute, you may be saying. We're supposed to remember that we're always God's children, but doesn't I Corinthians 13:11 tell me to "put childish ways behind me"? If you look at the context of this verse I think you'll see that as we grow as believers through the grace of God we mature in our understanding of what it means to be united in Christ. We are not called to stop being children but to live our lives fully to what ever level of maturity God has given us.

Perhaps this seems like a roundabout way of answering a simple question: 'How can each of us be the best possible mother we can be?' Trust in Christ and grow in him. Be content as you remember that you are always God's child. 

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