A Soft Gentle Voice: Intentional Motherhood: A Mother's Faith

Each time I have groaned in labour and brought forth life, those first moments were simply glorious. Those moments when their tiny bodies came from within and gently cradled in my arms, our skin touching for the first time, and I breathed in, drank deep the beauty of life that had been formed within. The pain forgotten {momentarily} and I was completely absorbed, lost, enraptured in the wonder of a mere 7 pounds. The moments following the pain were exhilarating.

But, each time, when my baby was taken from me to be weighed and wrapped, I immediately felt the emptiness and I would follow my newborn with my eyes and call for my little one, wanting her back, to feel his skin on mine, to know she was safe and well. Oh, the relief when my baby was placed back near my heart and was rooting for warm milk.

I know mothers who have had their babies delivered from their bodies and whisked right away, some to be made to live; other mothers have know the deep grief of the excruciating loss of the little one they already love.

We are living in a fallen world. A world where sorrow is associated with life. From even before the moment our little ones enter this world the Mother’s instinct is so strong.

We will do anything to protect our baby.

That is exactly what Moses’ mother did. As the narrative begins, ‘The woman conceived, and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.’

One little sentence, but imagine bearing a child at a time when if you delivered a boy, your son would be killed at birth ~ simply cast into the Nile!

We wonder about the gender of our baby these days to know if we should purchase blue or pink. But, the Hebrew women would wonder for 9 months if the life growing deep within would be granted the gift of life or have it extinguished just after those first cries. If they delivered a male child, Pharaoh had commanded death.

It is here in the midst of intense sorrow and the wailing cries and evil that Moses’ mother’s faith shines. When she saw that the child was a beautiful child, her faith saw more than her natural eyes. She breathed in the new born scent of her boy and believed he was special.

“The eye of faith sees in each little one a divine goodness.”

We see the natural beauty of our children, but may God grant us the faith to see each one of our children as a goodly child ~ exceeding fair and beautiful ~ a being created in God’s image, a jewel, the heavenly beauty that is reflected in our little ones.

May we have this same faith and may it manifest itself as we raise our children.

1. Faith does not fear.

No, our children do not face Pharaoh or the Nile, but the power behind this evil, the prince of this world, is still active for the lives of our children.

“The spirit of the world claims possession of the children.”

But, a greater power works in us. We have to be aware of the danger, but not be in fear of it. Neither can we ignore it or tune it out.

Are we actively engaged in protecting our children?

“The Church has failed to realize the importance of the role of parenting in the spiritual life of the child . . . If only the eyes of God’s people were opened to the danger which threatens His Church . . . If every Christian home were a training school for His service, more spiritual growth would take place than could be accomplished through preaching.”

2. Faith Finds Safety

Three words, ‘she hid him.’

His mother saw with eyes of faith that he was a beautiful child, a special child and she did everything she could to protect him. We need to do whatever we believe is necessary to protect our children from evil.

‘Each day lay your child in God’s keeping and let your soul be filled with the knowledge that He has indeed taken charge of it. Let the love of Jesus be the first place of safety to which you guide his youthful feet. Hide your child in the quietness of home life . . . Believe that yours are children of a peculiar people, who are separated unto God. Continue to believe that they must be kept separate for Him.’

We also need to surrender our children to the Lord. For when Moses’ mother could no longer hide him, she laid her baby in a basket and released him into the very river that swallowed the lives of Hebrew newborn boys. Her faith surrendered her son to God and God blessed her and granted her the blessing of receiving her son back to her very own bosom.

3. The Reward of Faith

Our faith is always blessed by God. As we trust God, he will bless our children and we too will receive blessing.

“Let faith hide the child in the ark of God’s love. Let faith, train the child for God and His people. Then, when the time comes that your child must go into the world, he will be safe in the power of faith and God’s protection. A child of faith will not only receive a blessing for itself, but be a blessing to others.”

A Mother’s Prayer

"I acknowledge, Lord, that I do not fully realize the value of my children, nor the danger to which they are exposed from the Prince and the Spirit of the world. Lord, teach me to fully recognize the danger and yet never to fear the commandment of the King. Open my eyes to see in the light of heaven that each little one is a goodly child, entrusted to my keeping and training for Your work and Kingdom. Help me to keep them sheltered, to hide them from the power of the world and of sin. May my own life be the life of faith, hid with Christ in God, that my child may know no other dwelling place. Grant this also to all Your people, O my God. Let Your Church awake to know her place in this world, and her calling to go out to the land to which God has called her. Let the mighty power of faith be seen in the training of our children to show the difference between those who fear you and those who do not. Give us grace to raise our children for you. Amen."

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{all quotations taken directly from 'Raising Your Child for Christ' by Andrew Murray, unless otherwise noted}

There's a little book, 'Raising Your Children for Christ' by Andrew Murray, on my shelf that I keep bringing down and leafing through and, Lord willing, on Wednesdays I hope to share snippets of my gleanings from it.

I don't claim to know all the answers. I need to dig deeper so that I can be even more equipped to be the mother that God intended. I am so thankful that this task of raising our children has not been given to me alone.

Join me on this journey? It is not a list of rules and how-to's but rather a chance to look into your own life and heart and be challenged to live a life wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord.