Joy, Endurance, Tears and Reward
A Mother’s Day Message
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© May 10, 2020
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 1:1-20
The Miracle of Children
Motherhood is amazing! Mothers were uniquely formed by God to give birth to the coming generations. No one can do this but you. God made your physical body and your emotional well-being perfectly so you could conceive; so only you could incubate and give sole nourishment to the frail helplessness inside you, at the beginning of a human existence; so you could amazingly bring forth a child and continue to nourish, nurture and educate that small child through the vulnerability of innocent childhood. All this so there could be a next generation of human beings. Without you, the world could not be populated; without you there would not be anyone on this planet; without you, human life as we know it, would not exist. The Eternal God has commissioned you and you alone, to give birth and nurture His special creation uniquely formed in His own Image!
God Specifically Made You to be a Mother
Mothers do not participate in their physical being to be formed in such a way so a child could be formed in their womb – nothing but the Infinite God could be capable of doing so. God profoundly made a woman so that she could amazingly become a mother.
Today is specifically about Motherhood, but we would be negligent and unthoughtful unless we gave great appreciation to many, many folks who adopted and embraced children into their homes to honorably give security, love, support, hope and family to those who, because of tragedy, were without natural family.
This is also a “shout out” of appreciation to those who, for any number of reasons, are without children. Women are natural nurturers. You have most likely been surrogate parents to a growing ensemble of dear friends and relatives who have needed you to be in a network of tangible and caring mentors.
But, today there is a specificity and focus around Mother’s Day…
A Celebration of Joy
Our Excitement to See Our Child Born
Few events are cause for celebration as the birth of a child!
Mothers, do you remember when you first thought, “That’s my child!”
Many have experienced this thrilling, unbelievable moment! To see that tiny hand in our hand; to sense the absolute helplessness of your newborn baby and to recognize that this child is part of “me”! That we as parents are accountable for its welfare! What an occasion! What a thrill! What a mystery – a tiny human being that mirrors the very characteristics of our own appearance, emotion, DNA and heart! Unbelievable…and undeniable!
We may also joyfully celebrate this event because subconsciously we understand that if this birth did not happen, then we would have no one to follow us in the world; we would not replace ourselves; the gift of our life would not continue through our child in the generations to come.
The birth of a child is a cause for celebration for the whole world, for without birth, there could be no future generations.
The Mystery and Profoundness of Physical Birth Paralleled with the Mysterious Dynamic and Profoundness of Spiritual Birth!
The birth of a child is a reflection of a “birth” of a different kind. Jesus Christ used human birth as a reflection of Spiritual Birth, Spiritual Life and His Spiritual Kingdom! Just as motherhood and physical birth is a mystery to us – without any human help or imprint for its physical creation, so it is with Spiritual birth.
We cannot manufacture, as an act of our will, spiritual reality in our human spirit, nor can we create as an act of our will, our physical human birth. Could it be that such “impossibility” of human birth (destined for frailty and death) is only a window to reveal to us the “impossibility” but actuality, of a far more meaningful spiritual birth which will exist for eternity? What great privilege is Salvation!
In all heaven there is great “cause” for the celebration of repentance and spiritual birth.
Luke 15:6b–7
6 … ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents….
John 3
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born oagain he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born qof water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 rThat which is born of the flesh is sflesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.4 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Motherhood – A Capacity to Endure…through Crying out to God
Let’s focus on the resource given to us by God in Spiritual New Birth and Spiritual maturity, instead of capitalizing on what the world would applaud because of luck, natural talent or hard work.
Today I would like to challenge mothers to find their deepest resources in God.
To be Spiritually based, not naturally based.
A Spiritual Riddle
What is the answer to the spiritual riddle below?
· Godly women in the Bible did this to endure; to survive.
· Many who have a spiritual relationship with God have done this to endure; to survive.
What is this? Is it “luck?” Is it “talent?” Is it “hard work?” Or, is it “Tears”?
How do you succeed in life when there is the cacophony of worldly distractions, a multiplicity of diverse opinions and a myriad of other “things” each fighting for their own place in “my” world, all around “me”?
How do all souls embedded in this world survive? First, let’s look at “luck.”
“Luck”
Some people attain their status in life by what may seem to be pure “luck” - merely undeserved, unrequested, unmerited talent, gifting and appearance.
This individual might look good, make super intelligent decisions, have a serious command of language or several languages, be clever, and know how to seemingly do everything right – a super mom, so to speak…and it might look like she doesn’t have to do anything to have it all: a Natural Super-Mom of the Suburbs!
“Luck” is one way the world can define the success of a person with those kinds of natural gifts! One who can use their natural gifts, looks and ability, to their own ends, toward their own purposes, for their own whims and goals!
But we know from the frenzied news releases about many of the same super stars, the relentless display of break-ups, rehab check-ins, suicide rates and personality issues in which these talented folks often find themselves, just like the things that the rest of the world may have faced!
“Luck” certainly isn’t the answer to survival in the din and dissonance of this world’s uncertain wilderness.
“Talent”
There are many talented women. The seventh Prime Minister of modern-day Israel, Golda Meir was exceptionally talented in her leadership.
So was the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the longest serving British Prime Minister in the 20th Century and the only woman to hold that office. She was known as “The Iron Lady” for her uncompromising politics and leadership style. She was heavily involved in British politics for most of her life, even after leaving office, but was eventually restricted by several strokes and finally dementia, until a stroke took her life.
Is “talent” always the golden ticket to give success and satisfaction in life?
What about the success of hard work?
“Hard Work”
Others seem to claw their way to the top by sheer hard work and dedicated, focused drive.
I once read about a former President of France and his commitment to put France back to work. This son of a Hungarian immigrant was known to have an irrepressible drive to succeed. He was ambitious. He became a mayor of an affluent Paris suburb while in his early twenties; then some twenty years later he became France’s Interior Minister and for a short time became it’s Finance Minister, before then becoming France’s President. He was known for his hard work ethic – to the point of being a super workaholic. It has been said that it seems he would never rest. With sheer will power and undeniable hard work, he has seemed to have climbed his way to the top of his political career, but six years later he was voted out of office. Obsessive work and effort did not allow him to succeed in the end.
We all know gifted women who “make things happen” through their hard work and untiring effort, who succeed and “get things done!”
Ah, but these too eventually…eventually, lose their motivation, strength or will power. These too grow old and die. These too most often, are forgotten in the “sands of time!”
There is nothing wrong with natural talent – it is wonderful to have any amount of gifts that God gives you (especially if we use it for His Glory), and it is commendable to have a good and honorable work ethic (when we do not make “work” our “god”). But neither of these can secure a restored relationship with God and a communication or communion with God through our gifts or effort.
What is the answer to the spiritual riddle?
· Godly women in the Bible did this to endure; to survive.
· Many who have a spiritual relationship with God have done this to endure; to survive.
What is this? Is it “luck?” Is it “talent?” Is it “hard work?” Or, is it “Tears”?
It seems this communication with God deepens considerably when we are faced with desperate situations which accompany the most desperate tears – a genuine crying out for God’s help!
How can a mother be successful in times of pressure and trial in the depth of her being? It is through her deepening relationship with God. Just as a baby cries out to be heard and nourished, so a mother can cry out to God for His strengthening and nourishment during the expectations and constant attentiveness while raising her child.
“Tears” – Crying Out to God
Psalm 107:6,13,19,28 (each verse is the same following four diverse critical issues)
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
Those special people, moms in particular, it seems, understand this in the depth of their hearts when they grasp at the very footsteps of heaven…in tears. It is from this humble place that a work is done that can never be accomplished – in fact, it is impossible to accomplish, any other way. These moms do not have to be “super moms,” “extremely talented moms, “workaholic moms”, or “known or unknown moms”; they are just “regular moms”, even “desperate moms” who humbly and seriously bring their agonizing petitions to the Throne Room of God, becoming like the persistent widow continuing to seek justice in a situation that may seem impossible to everyone else (Luke 18:1-8).
Luke 18:4b–7
4[Re: the Unjust Judge:] “Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. ”
6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
“Will not God give justice to His elect, who cry to Him day and night?”
God-Fearing Moms Cry out to God in many, many Circumstances
John 16:21
“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.” – Jesus
The Pains of everyday Life give many opportunities to Cry out to God:
2 Corinthians 5:1–4
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Psalm 18:6
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
Let’s look at some Biblical examples of moms who cried out to God.
Hagar’s Brokenness
Hagar, as a servant, seemed to be always on the outside, looking in. She wanted to be “inside” the inner circle of Abraham’s family, but she was thrown out of one of the best households (Abraham’s), because of her and her son’s condescending attitude toward her master’s wife (Sarah) (Gen. 16:2-6; 21:8-10). She and her son eventually found themselves close to death in a hostile wilderness. Haughty, castigating looks, and demeaning gossip had melted away with the reality of their dire situation. There was only one thing for both she and her son to do – cry out to God for mercy, deliverance and life itself.
Genesis 21
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
When the reality of the mistakes of life stare you in the face; when all your dreams, hopes, good intentions and boastful ramblings have disappeared like water through the cracks in an old cabin floor; and when there is hope from no other resource – that is when we prideful human beings finally realize that only God matters. The fact is: He is the Only One who mattered in the first place!
God made us to worship Him; to submit to Him, to follow Him, to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind, and to live with Him in His Amazing Kingdom Forever! He created us. He is God. God has no obligation to listen to the prayer of a belligerent, prideful earthling. In fact, pride is one of the things that God hates the most. If you passionately hated something that your child took pleasure in doing over and over again (despite your correction and displeasure), and then that same child came to you wanting something so they could get their own way again, would you give it to them? I think not.
Those who cry to God – those to whom He listens, are those who repent from their own self-seeking ways and turn to Him…to love Him, seek to obey Him and do His will.
Psalm 37:18–20
18 The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever. 19In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. 20 But the wicked will perish: The Lord’s enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish—vanish like smoke.
Psalm 37:27–29
27 Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. 28 For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.
If we come to the end of ourselves, repent of our deceptiveness and sin and honestly turn to God; there is no doubt that God will hear the cry of the sincere heart. Hagar found that to be true – the hard way. She must have had to be “broken” of pridefulness before she would look up and cry out to God. Some of us have come to God through brokenness. Others have come through Barrenness.
Hannah’s Barrenness
How do you keep yourself sane in the complicated and cruel world of interpersonal snobbery, gossip and harsh criticism…while at the same time, crying out to God for something you have absolutely no power to fix.
Are there “barren” places in our life?
· Are we “barren” of meaningful family or loving relationships?
· Are we “barren” in a specific hope that has eluded you?
· Do we sense “barrenness” in our relationship with God?
· Is there something that we feel we must have and cannot get that keeps us crying out to God?
…If so, let’s read the life story of Hannah.
1 Samuel 1
…And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 And 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 more to you than ten sons?”
9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put away your wine from you.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”
Barrenness confronts us with an impassable obstacle. It is a roadblock that seems to stop the progress of time itself. Everything else around us seems to be put on hold…but that is where we are not thinking with spiritual clarity. Actually, barrenness is the earthly obstacle that forces our human nature to look up: to acknowledge the God of heaven; to cry out to Him for deliverance; and to trust in Him alone. It is a human roadblock for spiritual benefit. Just as brokenness or barrenness can lead to despair for one who has no hope in God, on the other hand, barrenness reveals the reality of the depth of our faith in Christ. Through barrenness, those who have no faith walk away from faith, revealing who they have always been. But to the believer, God allows barrenness to be a means of giving spiritual strength to our growing faith; it causes those who have faith to become deeper Christians who are not ashamed to be called “Children of the Most High God,” and those of whom God Himself is not ashamed.
Romans 8:18,19
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time
are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
Hebrews 11:16
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Brokenness…Barrenness, and then there can be…
Naomi’s Bitterness
The test of famine; the transition of moving the whole family to a foreign country in order to survive; the tormenting death of her husband; the traumatic loss of her two sons – all these things took a heavy toll on Naomi, physically, emotionally and spiritually. “Call me bitter,” she told her relatives when she finally returned home from the turmoil of her experiences. We have no idea how many tears she cried to the LORD during those years. It is interesting though… even though she saw herself as “bitter” because of God’s seeming distressful Hand on her life Ruth saw her as someone she wanted to be with; someone to follow; someone from whom to learn about the True and Living God. Life can be bitter and Naomi experienced many of the bitterest things that life has to offer!
Ruth 1
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Even though life was very bitter to Naomi, she had been one who had cried out to God in the bitterness of it all; however, unseen in her emotional distress, God was graciously guiding her. When Naomi finally returned to her home in Israel, accompanied with Ruth, the loyal and loving daughter-in-law from Moab, who was to be in the very lineage of Israel’s kings and of Christ Himself. Naomi is experiencing, right now in heaven, (and will experience forever throughout eternity) the blessedness of the faith (sealed with a multitude of tears) which she evidenced and poured out before the Lord, as a pilgrim here on this unforgiving, cruel, but impermanent earth.
A Conclusion of Reward
God hears the longing cry of the broken heart, the barren heart and the one who has experienced the bitterness of life. No one succeeds in God's sight through mere luck, talent, or hard work. For the believer who has faith in Christ, their success can only be through a right relationship with God Himself. That way is seen through our communion with Him that often comes through “tears” – through Crying Out to God.
God’s answer will not always be the “answer” we may be expecting.
1. He may answer specifically as we might expect He would, as we had hoped and as we prayed.
2. But, on the other hand, He may answer by saying “No, that would not be good for you, my precious Child!”
3. Or, He may answer in a totally different way than we could ever dream.
4. And, He will always reward His Children justly and honorably with eternal rewards.
“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and His ears toward their cry.
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers them out of them all.”
Psalm 34:15-19
A Mother’s Day
Bouquet
By Dan Kennedy
Roses and carnations,
baby’s breath and fern,
artistically bundled in a spray of fresh spring
may show the love of a man for a woman…
But it cannot reveal the beauty of a mother.
Kisses on scrapes and bruises of a small child.
Determination to see blessing upon the offspring,
the purity of a life
and the success of the beloved.
These begin to display the bouquet of
motherly care, dreams and endowments
on those so blessed to be thus loved.
Strength of endurance,
when tedious cycles of life roll over and over,
often almost crushingly so,
on the very one who nurtured the helpless one
in its first gasps of life and breath.
New forms and flowers of life for the motherly arrangement
continually are introduced from the garden of her heart.
Patience. Patience.
Waiting and longing. Praying and watching.
Crying and laughing.
Sorrow and joy interwoven together
in such a complex array that no florist or botanist
could create such a design, such a brilliance of color,
such a dashing array of hope,
such a watering of tears.
The labor pains of birth are washed away
in the overflow of the satisfaction of new life.
From the extreme lack of knowledge
in how to be…in what is expected to be,
to the experience from trial, the school of error
and the delight of discovering truth
with that which really works.
…The tapestry of the bouquet
is growing bolder and more permanent.
Contentment.
Resting in knowing that God is in control,
no matter how much I am not.
Praying to that end; Waiting to that end
and Resting in the assurance of that precious truth.
Those shared experiences of life
become the customized vehicle delivering the bouquet.
Knocking on the door,
flowers in outstretched hand,
smile gracing the countenance.
Gracious experience and truth,
waiting to shower some new mother,
thirsty with hope.
The bouquet of motherhood graces the tables and windowsills
of the hearts of those who know mothers,
but the tapestry of that bouquet is
forever changing in sight and fragrance.
Ever changing because motherhood is
a living, growing, reproducing blessing,
budding, bearing fruit and showering unrequited love
from all the seasons within a mother’s heart.
o [2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; 1 Pet. 1:3, 23]
q [Ezek. 36:25-27; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Eph. 5:26-27; Tit. 3:5-7; Heb. 10:22]
r 1 Cor. 15:50
s John 6:63
4 The same Greek word means both wind and spirit