“Now I
would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you
received, in which you stand.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV)
There's
something really amazing about parenting. There are things on this earth that
teach us about the love of God but I think being a parent is one of the
clearest. And even more clear when we are first given a helpless, little sinner
to love and cherish and be fully responsible for.
Parenting
and I think especially, mothering, reflects an aspect of God’s character that
is easy for us to forget in this busy, soccer-mom competition we call life. We need
to be reminded that we as mothers are made in the image of our God. The
scriptures paint many pictures of a mothering God. I love how the message
paraphrases Deuteronomy 32:11, “He was like an eagle hovering over its nest, overshadowing
its young, then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air, teaching
them to fly.”
Like a
mother holding a crying infant, God comforts. Isaiah 40:11 says, “He will tend
his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry
them in his bosom.” And Isaiah 66:13 says, “As a mother comforts her child, so
will I comfort you.” He speaks quietly and sings to us. Zephaniah 3:17 says,
“He will quiet you with His
love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” As you sing and speak softly to
your new little one, remember the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our
troubles (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
A new
baby changes life. The helplessness and complete dependence of another human
requires great sacrifice. There is much we give up when caring for a new baby –
fun, time, resources, a clean house, hobbies, and especially sleep! Rom 8:32
reminds us of God’s sacrifice for his children. “He who did not spare his own Son
but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us
all things?”
As our
little ones grow we provide instruction for meeting physical needs – like
teaching them to walk and to eat solid food. We also give them instruction in
the form of rules in order to protect them and provide them with a good life in
this world. God gave his children the law in the Old Testament. He wanted them
to be safe and set apart from the world in which they lived. He also taught
them about the world and gave them tools and resources to live here. He didn’t
give Adam an appetite and then no way to satiate it. He instructed him saying
“Behold I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all
the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for
food.” (Genesis 1:29)
And like
God we also must provide our children with discipline. Hebrews 12:7-10 “It is
for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what
son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without
discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children
and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and
we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits
and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed
best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his
holiness.”
Not only
does parenting teach us about God’s character. It also teaches us about our
character. It is no coincidence he calls us his children. A baby is helpless, habitual,
selfish, and discontent.
My boys
asked me the other day, “what happened when I first came out of your belly?” I
said, “you closed your eyes tight and you screamed your head off.” A newborn is
discontent. They’ve been forced to abandon the warmth and comfort of a mother’s
womb and they are not happy about it. Follow this with a new feeling of hunger
vs. a constant flow of nutrients, the feeling of clothes and wet diapers vs.
the feeling of floating in a cushy warm fluid, the sound of the outside world
with loud brothers and sisters and vacuums and TVs vs. the soft sound of mom’s
and baby’s heartbeats. If you’ve been around any baby you know how good she
gets at expressing her discontent.
Soon baby
begins to adjust to this world and usually she becomes habitual: feedings every
3 hours, pooping right after eating, falling asleep only after what seems like
hours of the nighttime ritual of bath, book, song, prayers, nursing, rocking, etc.
But they
need us. Babies are born helpless. They simply cannot care for themselves. The
need someone to do it for them. And they’re selfish. They don’t really care
that you finally just fell back asleep, they are hungry and they need to eat
NOW!
Selfish,
discontent, helpless, and habitual - sounds a lot like me most of the time ;)
Josh, my
nearly 6 year old, has been interrupting my sleep regularly for the last year
or so. Not the same as a newborn but still most certainly an inconvenience. Now
if you are anything like me, you love your kids but you also love your sleep.
I’m not a huge fan of nightly visits from my son. A few weeks ago I had an
interesting experience as I was interrupted by my boy yet again. Frustrated, I
took him to the bathroom and back to his bed to lay down with him until he fell
asleep. As I lay there facing him, he settled in, rested his hand on mine and
began breathing heavily and evenly. I smiled and thought about how cute and
sweet he was and how much I loved him. Then I realized the picture this gives
of God's love for me. I'm not always lovable. I'm frustrating. I'm habitual
(and not in a good way). I’m selfish and I’m discontent. But God smiles on me
because of His Son. My love for my son is not a perfect love. But it's an
earthly glimpse, a dim reflection of the love the Father has for us. And I need
to remember it.
You see,
God knows I’m all those yucky things and he loves me anyway. He loves me enough
to give me law and instructs me on how life works best. His law does more than
that though – it makes me aware of my helplessness and my need for a Savior.
Just like my kids, no matter how hard I try, I CANNOT do the things I need or
even want to do. And just like I step in
and say I’ll feed you, I’ll change you, I’ll sacrifice for you, God does that
for us. But he doesn’t just comfort, and teach, and love, and discipline. He
demonstrates a love that parenting only scratches the surface of. “But God
shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
(Rom 5:8). In the ultimate display of selfllessness, He sacrificed himself so
that we would never have to be separated from Him because of our selfishness.
So as you
get your first glimpse of your helpless, discontent, habitual, and selfish
newborn and you smile and cry and your heart fills with joy. Remember that is
how God sees you. Remember his sacrifice for you as you change dirty diapers
and lose sleep. As you swaddle your little one and cover her with a receiving
blanket, remember how God provided you with the covering of his Son. As you
sing and rock him, remember how God comforts you and quiets you with his love. As
you teach and instruct and discipline her, remember God’s grace and patience
and mercy with his chosen people and his desire for our sanctification, as He
is conforming us into the image of His Son.
But most
of all remember the Gospel of Christ – the incarnation, sinless life,
crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Remember the perfect love of God
displayed in the Gospel. A love that sacrifices itself, that comforts, that
teaches, and that disciplines for our good.
In the
midst of dirty diapers, screaming infants, sleepless nights, temper tantrums, and
tough decisions, we need the Gospel. I pray that mothering your helpless little
sinner will remind you of God's love for you and for us. We are all just helpless,
little sinners.
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