Archives for July 2008

We’ve had a guest at our house for the last three weeks, so we’ve been having some touristy days. Yesterday we went to Carlsbad Caverns. It’s very nice, but it is a challenge since strollers are not allowed, touching is not allowed, and noise frowned upon. Actually my children were quite well behaved under the circumstances, but at the end of the day I was exhausted and feeling a bit of discouragement because they weren’t as well behaved as I would have liked to see. Ditto for the art museum last week.

But I was reminded about a conversation I had with my friend Kelly last week. Our mood at the end of the day is often dependent on whether our children have measured up to our expectations, which if we are honest is how we evaluate whether WE measure up to our expectations as mothers.

As I go to sleep tonight, won’t it be better to meditate on God’s faithfulness and mercy in my life and the lives of my children? When God is my focus, the circumstances in my life dim in the vivid reality of God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Corinthians 4:14-18

I love feminine metaphors in the Bible. For example, God compares Himself to the mother of a nursing baby (Isaiah 49:15). Can a mother forget her nursing child? Yes, as hard as it is to comprehend, some may forget, but God will not forget you and me. I am comforted and delighted to  know that God is not a God of men only. It’s not that a man doesn’t know intellectually that it is difficult for a mother to ignore her baby who is crying to be fed; but he doesn’t know the emotion. He doesn’t feel the truth of God’s metaphor as I do. We don’t need to change pronouns to make God “relevant” for women. God communicates to a woman as well as a man.

Today I found a new metaphor from Isaiah. The King of Assyria is threatening God’s people, and good King Hezekiah is badly outnumbered.

And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” Isaiah 37:3-4

Hezekiah recognized he was unable in his own strength to meet his powerful enemy. He compares his inability to a woman who has labored and is depleted of strength, before her baby has been born. Happily, Hezekiah didn’t stop at bemoaning his insufficiency. He says “It may be that the Lord your God will hear…. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” Hezekiah calls on the Lord, and God miraculously intervenes.

I’ve felt tired, too. I’ve felt overwhelmed with accomplishing the tasks that God has set before me, and I’ve recognized I was insufficient to meet something in my own strength. The image of a woman in labor, with no more strength, is powerful. I cannot live life without God. May I live this week with a more vivid realization of my need for Him.

The other day, my son had a problem with complaining. From the time he woke up, nothing pleased him. By the time we were in the car to run some errands, I realized the complaining wasn’t going to stop unless I said or did something.

I attempted to explain why complaining (about everything) was such a serious offense against God. When I paused and looked back in my rear view mirror, he was covering his ears.

Perhaps I was talking too much. Perhaps I should have been questioning, but I don’t think questioning would have been effective this time.

Perhaps it is time for another breakfast talk about complaining. I’ll probably ask them if they can remember any Bible stories or people about complaining and see what they say. I’ll ask them what the Bible says about God’s provision. They may not know the answers, but this will give me an opportunity to share them.