Isaiah the prophet said that God said concerning his people, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bodies shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the LORD is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies” (Isaiah 66:13-14). God uses feminine imagery to describe his relationship with his faithful worshipers. Although the passage refers initially to a setting different than our own, we can infer two principles from it. God cares for his people as a good mother cares for her children and he will protect his people.
On this Mother’s Day, those of us who were blessed with good mothers thank God for the way that these women incarnated his love for us, giving us a visual image that helps us to understand the imagery of Isaiah 66. My mother still lives; I visited her this past week. I remember a Bible class when I was about four years old in which I and my younger brother were her students. She coached me for hour s before my first sermon and applauded my victories in academics. She and Dad worked as a team to teach me to love God and others.
O God who loves us as a mother loves her children, Thank you for your love and for providing mothers who care for children. We thank you for their example and their patience. They have shown us your love for us. We pray for children who do not know such love or who have been separated from their mothers and fathers. Keep them safe; provide for them a way in which they may learn to love as you love and how also to forgive. Thank for mothers who love as you do. In Jesus name, Amen.
Reblogged this on Call for Fire Seminar and commented:
Mother’s Day brings memories of Mom, and also awareness of how not only my mother, but my grandmothers, and particularly one of my great-grandmothers, shaped my life. When I wrote “A Prayer on Mother’s Day” in 2014, my mother still lived; she died about two years later. I miss her love for learning and her beautiful alto voice. Even more, I would love to talk to her again. Her mother died shortly after Mom was born; Mom’s paternal grandmother saved the sickly newborn by feeding her Eagle Brand condensed milk. She and her husband then raised my mother, instilling in her a deep love for God, for Christ and his church, and the Bible, especially the book of James. A later wife of my Mom’s father became an early positive influence on me, teaching me to learn to read and modeling perseverance with love. My father’s mother taught me to pray with reverence and demonstrated how to cook with excellence. I love to read, I love to cook, I love to sing, and I am still learning to pray. Thank you for learning along with me. Pray hard, my friends.