When Momma ain't Happy...
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Intro:
Intro:
If the three wise men had been three wise women, what would have happened?
They would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts.
I have an idea for a new reality show.
Since it is my idea I think it is only fair that I don’t have to participate. :)
Six men will be dropped off on an island for six weeks with one mini-van and four kids each.
Each kid must play two sports and take either music or dance lessons.
Each man must take care of his four kids, keep his assigned hut clean, do laundry, correct homework, and prepare meals.
Each man must attend a weekly PTA meeting and make a miniature Indian hut from four toothpicks, two paper clips, and a flour tortilla.
They must make a four-year old eat an entire serving of peas.
And all of this with no google or delegating.
The kids get to vote them off the island based on their performance.
The surviving winner gets to go back to his own job.
I once had no children and four theories on how to raise a child.
I now have 4 children and no theories.
Little cute creatures called babies make some ladies mothers.
They seem very harmless and cute but they will turn into us soon enough.
Will we be ok with how that turns out?
When you look at these little babies (when being taken care by their mothers, right Seth?) you could almost get the idea that being a mother is the easiest, happiest, most exciting job in the world.
Look at mothers Pinterest boards, Facebook and Twitter feeds or their family photos and it seems that everything must be perfect and that every kid wakes up with a smile on their face and their hair combed perfectly.
Slides of Perfect Families
The truth is that being a mother may be the most demanding, self-sacrificing, draining, unrelenting and thankless job in the world.
Absolutely some of the greatest joys that can be had are found in being a mother.
But there are also so many difficult times many moments that are anything but happy.
Today we are going to see a mother who wasn’t too happy.
She is known as the widow of Zarephath.
I. Cause of her Unhappiness
I. Cause of her Unhappiness
And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
God’s judgement had fallen upon Israel because of their idolatry.
Elijah was God’s prophet during this time.
He proclaimed God’s judgment that would be seen in a great famine in the land.
And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
In the context of all of this we find a mother that we can learn so much from.
We will see that this mother isn’t happy but that there is good reason for that.
We have to realize her loss, she lost...
We have to realize her loss, she lost...
A. Her Spouse
A. Her Spouse
And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
This lady is a widow.
Elijah was to stay with her during the famine.
God had told him to go so he went and you can tell in the way that he asks that he just expects her to know and to serve him.
B. Her Support
B. Her Support
And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
She is basically saying, we have absolutely nothing left to our name.
We have no one to provide for us and this is a horrible economy.
I have enough to cook one more meal, so I am getting a few twigs, that much of a meal.
Then after that we plan on eating and dying.
Elijah asked for a tiny bit of bread but she literally had nothing to offer.
She and her son had accepted the fact that they were going to eat one more time.
God had provided one last meal for them but she didn’t know that there was one more thing.
What he is asking of her makes no sense at all.
She had provided up until now but now had to make a decision of whether it was her or her God that had taken care of her up until that day.
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows: For so he giveth his beloved sleep.
Our God is the one that giveth.
How many times do we struggle with these same issues?
C. Her Son
C. Her Son
And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
After everything she had dealt with there was something else.
She lost her son.
She had to watch her son get sick and die.
As a pastor I have dealt with people as they watched their loved ones die.
There are very few things in this world that are harder to deal with than watching your child die.
II. Cause of her Happiness
II. Cause of her Happiness
And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.
And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.
Elijah takes the widow’s son and begs the Lord to resurrect her son.
And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.
This lady had watched her husband die and now her son and Elijah was begging God to do a miracle.
God answered and he was raised back to life.
And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
Notice here in the attitude that comes from this mother.
And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.
She learned that she could trust God in the hardest times that she had dealt with.
III. Classes from the Widow
III. Classes from the Widow
This text has some important application to all of us today when things aren’t going quite the way that they think they need to go.
A. Life has a way of disturbing our happiness.
A. Life has a way of disturbing our happiness.
Like the widow, I wonder how many of us tend to be unhappy today.
Maybe you are very intensely unhappy with life.
As Christians we have to remember that trials will come.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
B. God is working in ways that we do not know or understand.
B. God is working in ways that we do not know or understand.
The widow had no idea that a hungry prophet would be used of God to save her son’s life
No matter what life looks like, we have to remember that God is at work:
1. Changing us
1. Changing us
God allows things in our lives that disturb us so that we can learn that he will remake us.
He will build us.
Knowing this is a lot easier than trusting this process.
2. Connecting us.
2. Connecting us.
Elijah and the widow were living separate lives, but God brought them both together to bring honor to his name.
Just think about some of the most amazing relationships that we have in our lives come as a result of some very damaging things that we didn’t understand.
3. Contributing through us.
3. Contributing through us.
The widow provided food for Elijah and he saved the life of her son.
Both were in a time of trial.
Elijah was hungry and didn’t know where he would get his next meal.
The widow had watched her husband die and even her son.
Everyone involved in trials can and will be used of God if they allow themselves to be.
C. Obey God no matter the circumstances.
C. Obey God no matter the circumstances.
It seemed crazy for Elijah to stay with a non-Jewish widow.
He obeyed and she did too.
No matter what we think is best, we must obey the Lord.
We don’t follow our feelings, we follow his word.
D. Don’t blame God for the losses we experience.
D. Don’t blame God for the losses we experience.
When her son died she blamed Elijah even though he had nothing to do with his death.
We have to live in the truth that Jesus told us that we are going to have problems.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
The blame game is way too easy to play and there is always a culprit that isn’t ourselves.
This is one of the big steps of maturity when we are raising children.
We know that they are truly maturing when everything isn’t always their fault.
I am sorry, I made a mistake are words that we sometimes think we will never hear from them but as we do we know they are growing more than in shoe sizes.
E. God is faithful regardless of the circumstances.
E. God is faithful regardless of the circumstances.
When her son was resurrected she was as happy as could be!
God is able to fix all of those problems and make them as if they never existed.
But that doesn’t mean that he will.
We do not serve him because of how great everything is.
We love him and serve him no matter what the circumstances in our life are like.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
None of us can understand and appreciate great times if we have not dealt with hard times.
In the hard times of our lives is where we make our deepest connection to our God.
When we are the answer to our problems it is easy to forget our need for God.
Many of us never find ourselves on our knees until we are driven there by a life and a problem that seems to have no answers.
Hold on to the goodness of God in the good and the bad times.
Bring him honor and glory through your life today, tomorrow and till you leave this earth.
We have choices today, we can surrender our false sense of control to a powerful and loving Father or we can pretend to still be keeping everything together.
Mothers thank you for being with us today here at River church.
Let’s pray before Becky Bryant has a presentation for our Mother’s today.
Now let’s leave today understanding one thing
Father, You know that mothering, though a wonderful calling, yet a demanding task, filled with anxious moments and wearisome days.
We ask You will restore and refresh every mother here today.
Help us to be thankful for all that they do not just in thought but in our words as well.
Bless them this week and bring honor to your name through their lives. Amen.
Becky?????