Mother's Day 2020

Mothering In A Pandemic

Happy Mother’s Day 2020

Never been a Mother’s Day quite like this one!

I hope that you are afforded the honor that you deserve during this time.

I want to talk this morning for a short time about a few mothers from the Bible that you might be able to relate to.

But first, what about you?

Some of you have become mothers in times that you didn’t think you would have to be.

Maybe you knew you would be a teacher to your children, but just not like “A TEACHER” of school proportions.

Maybe you knew you would have to be an activities coordinator, but not to the degree that you have had to be in the last month and a half.

Maybe you knew that you would have to be a lot of different things in your life, but the magnification that has been put on these things in the last 6 weeks has caused you to loose your purpose or get lost in the necessities of life around you.

Well, let me assure you that God has not forgotten you and your labors will not go in vain during this time of change for all of the world.

We have been reminded of the importance of family, church, and even our friendships that might have been taken advantage of through this time.

I believe that all things are for a reason and that what the enemy meant for evil, my God will turn it around for His good!!!

The Bible speaks highly of mothers who raise children and guide their families in a righteous manner.

Proverbs 31 tells us that the “wife of noble character” is honored by her husband and children for her virtues.

Motherhood was not a requirement to be a godly woman in Bible times, and not every woman who wanted children were granted them.

How are you this morning?

Let’s look at 4 mothers from the Bible and see how they dealt with life.

Mary

The mother of Jesus, who at a young age learned from an angel that she would give birth to the long-awaited messiah.

How would you feel about knowing that you were going to have a baby and a pretty important baby at that.

Think of the ridicule that she must have went through.

She was engaged to Joseph and now all of a sudden you are pregnant and having a baby.

She was not married yet!

Now today, this might not be such a life altering event, but then it was a major idea. the fact that a woman was with child and not married put her in a position of an outcast.

This was not something that went over well in the community at that time.

The people didn’t understand that she was with Child from the Holy Spirit and not a man!

But the attitude that she had was incredible!

Luke 1:38 MEV

38 Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be unto me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Look at her response!

God, I am our servant!

Whatever your need from me, I will follow you!

This is a heart of a mother and a servant of God!

Mother, today you can stand up against what the world has said that you have to be like, because Mary did.

Society may say that doing what the Lord wants you to do is not right, but you can stand in the righteousness of God and know that you are good with Him.

Do not let the world dictate who you are, but be who you are through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Mary had to raise a child that was God’s from the start.

Think about trying to disciplining Jesus!

But then to know that your child would die at the hands of those who He created.

To know that He had to die for the sins of a world that would not appreciate Him.

Elizabeth

She was a woman that was found “righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s decrees blamelessly.”

How would you like to be labeled with that title?

Elizabeth was not able to bear a child earlier in her life until it was time for God’s plan.

God answered her prayer late in life with a son named John the Baptist.

She was also unselfish in her encouragement of Mary, her cousin in :

Luke 1:42–45 MEV

42 She spoke out with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 Indeed, as soon as the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a completion to those things which were told her by the Lord.”

Elizabeth was just as excited for Mary as she was for herself.

This was a testament to her love for the Lord as well as her devotion to the call of God.

Imagine having a friend who was having someone as important as the Son of God.

You do have friends that have children that are important to God.

You should be excited for them and encourage each other with the Word of God in their parenting.

When Elizabeth greeted Mary, Elizabeth’s child leaped in her womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

This happened right before the verse we just read in Luke 1.

Wow, what a time to be a woman.

That was a time when the God of this universe was making preparation for a change of historic proportions.

This change came from the use and help of a woman, mother.

Nice to have someone who you can rely on to support you and encourage you in times of uncertainty.

Hannah

She is one of the most inspiring mothers in the Bible.

Hannah knew how to pray.

She interceded for years for a son.

With Hannah, as soon as she had that child, she took him and dedicated him to the Lord.

She prayed so intensely that Eli thought that she was drunk.

1 Samuel 1:5 MEV

5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb.

1 Samuel 1:7 MEV

7 Thus it was yearly, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her. So Hannah wept and did not eat.

1 Samuel 1:13 MEV

13 Now Hannah was speaking in her heart. Her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

She went yearly to pray for a son and yearly she was disappointed.

She was provoked and ridiculed by another woman that was trying to show that she was better than Hannah.

She was one of those “mean girls” of the Bible.

She would rub it in that she had a son and Hannah did not.

Do you know anyone in your life like that?

How do you react to them and their ridicules?

Hannah got mad and went to pray!

She did not pray that God get her, but prayed that more intensely for a son.

Well, she received her blessing and had a son.

Then she followed through with what she promised the Lord of that day.

Have you prayed for a child and not received the answer yet?

Hold on to the promise that you have from the Lord that they will come home.

In the mean time, do not get so bitter that you take things out on others around you.

Let it draw you to an intense pray life for that son or daughter.

Sarah

Here is another woman who did not become a mother until later on in life.

It was so late in life that her reaction to what God promised her was met with laughter.

But this child did not come without some mess ups on the way.

The lack of patience to wait on the Lord, caused some problems and heartache that we fill even today.

The matter of taking the promises of God in to your own hands can lead to issues that will effect generations to come.

As a great woman in the Bible that did have her promised son late late in life, she had to wait and wait for many years to receive what God had for her.

The son she had would lead down a lineage to Jesus Christ.

How would you act if you were told by angels that you were going to have a child at 99 years old?

I know that if i were her husband how I would react!

She deserved the honor that she gets, because of her continued prayers and waiting on the Lord.

She would eventually raise a son that would represent the promise of the Father.

Genesis 21:5 MEV

5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

When we wait on the Lord, He will give us what He promised to us.

We have to resist the temptation to help God.

He knows best and He knows the plan that He has, we do not!

How are you today?

Do you feel that your relationship with the Lord is ok this morning?

Alter

I there a mom in here today that needs a touch from the Lord?

Do you feel that you are lost in the mix and can’t seem to find a way out of the mix?

God sees you and He knows who you are!

He has not forgotten you and He will never leave you or forsake you!

God will set your feet back on the rock of Jesus this morning if you let Him!

Is there anyone who wants to know Jesus today?