A good mom must be brave at times even if her child doesn’t grow up to be a Moses. She must occasionally stand against the flow of events. She must stand up and say "no" when it seems every other human being in the world is saying "yes." Her children must be cared for in a manner that only she can provide. She is their earliest defender. She is their first-line advocate. God has placed within her that "natural affection" that gives her courage beyond her own fear when it is necessary. Sometimes she must love her children even more than her own life.

By the time the Lord made mothers, he was into the sixth day of creation, working overtime. An angel appeared and said, "Why are you spending so much time on this one?" The Lord answered, "Have you read the spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic; have 200 moveable parts, all replaceable; run on black coffee and leftovers; have a lap that can hold three children at one time and that disappears when she stands up; have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart; and have six pairs of hands."

The angel was astounded at the requirements for this one. "Six pairs of hands! No Way!" said the angel. The Lord replied, "Oh, it's not the hands that are the problem. It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers must have!" "And that's on the standard model?" the angel asked. The Lord nodded in agreement, "Yes, she needs one pair to see through the closed door as she asks the children what they are doing even though she already knows. She needs another pair to see what she needs to know even though no one thinks she can. The third pair in the front of her head is for looking at an errant child and saying that she understands and loves him or her without even saying a single word."

The angel tried to stop the Lord. "This is too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish." "But I can’t!" the Lord replied, "I am so near to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She already heals herself when she is sick and can feed a family of six on a pound of hamburger and can get a nine year old to stand in the shower."

The angel moved closer and touched the woman, "But you have made her so soft, Lord." "She is soft," the Lord agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."

"Will she be able to think?" asked the angel. The Lord replied, "Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason and negotiate."

The angel then noticed something and reached out and touched the woman's cheek. "Oops! It looks like you have a leak with this model. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this one." "That's not a leak." the Lord objected. "That's a tear!" "What's the tear for?" asked the angel. The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her disappointment, her pain, her loneliness, her grief, and her pride."

The angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything for this one. You even created a tear!" The Lord looked at the angel and smiled and said, "I'm afraid you are wrong again, my friend. I created the woman, but she created the tear!"(1)

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers who have given birth to children, adopted children, or even been a foster mom. Happy Mother’s Day to you grandmothers and great grandmothers. We appreciate all of you for what you do and what you have done. Your roll in our lives is critical and we recognize it.

I thought that since it is Mother’s Day we might take our time this morning to look at three magnificent moms described in the Bible who had the kinds of character traits that make for good mothering. Not one of them realized that her example would be used to call attention to motherhood down through the centuries, but I suppose that just makes their examples all the more authentic.

I hope you have your Bible and can follow along as we look at each of these.

She first appears in Scripture during one of the darkest periods of Israel’s history. The entire Hebrew race was enslaved in Egypt. A few generations before, their ancestor, Joseph, by the power of God, had saved Egypt and the surrounding nations from a severe seven-year famine. Now, though, a Pharaoh had come to the throne that did not remember the help of Joseph. He considered the growing numbers of the descendants of Jacob to be a military threat.

"Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and in the event of war, they also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us, and depart from the land," said the paranoid Pharaoh. "So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor." (Exodus 1:10-11)

When the forced labor didn’t do it, Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill every boy baby they delivered. The midwives did not carry out the King’s edict, however, even at the risk of their own lives. God protected and blessed these brave women for their defiance. Finally, Pharaoh ordered that the Israelites themselves throw all newborn baby boys into the crocodile infested Nile River at birth. Survival of the children would now be in the hands of the mothers themselves.

Jochebed already had two growing children safe from the King’s cruel law due to their age – a three-year-old boy named Aaron and an older girl named Miriam who was about ten. What would normally have been a joyous pregnancy of her third child must have been a fearful experience as the time for her delivery drew near. What would she and her husband, Amram, do? Could they really bring themselves to kill this child growing inside her? What other option was there? Surely they couldn’t risk their entire family.

The normally joyful anticipation of birth was squeezed out by the ever-tightening vice-grip of fear as the day of Jochebed’s delivery drew close. The child was safe as he grew in his mother’s womb. But on the day of his birth a frightful decision would have to be made. Even as the pain of her labor came upon her, she and Amram had not yet decided what they would do. Surely many of their neighbors had already given up their children to the cruelty of the King. To them it probably seemed like the only thing possible. Perhaps, in the days leading up to the delivery, the couple had pled with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to somehow intervene and change the King’s cruel edict. If that were true, it seemed to no avail.

Did Jochebed secretly hope her child would be stillborn? It isn’t hard to reason that such an outcome would seem better than death by drowning at the hands of one’s own parents. On all this the Bible is silent, of course. The account of these things is rather brief. Yet it was surely there.

At any rate, Jochebed delivered her beautiful baby boy. Soon every effort was being made to muffle the cries of the tiny newborn. For now, their secret was safe – but it couldn’t be for long. The presence of a baby in the house isn’t something that can be quieted indefinitely, especially in the crowded living conditions of the Israelites. If his ever-louder cries were ever heard, her beautiful baby would be wrenched from her arms and killed immediately. The parents would also be at risk, to be made examples of those who did not obey.

"When she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months," the Bible says. "But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it, and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile." (Exodus 2:2-3)

It never ceases to amaze me as this story is told and retold in sermon and cinema, that this part is always distorted. Jochebed didn’t take her baby down to the river in his little floating basket and push him out into the current to be carried away! The Bible says she set his basket in the reeds. Jochebed’s older daughter stood nearby to keep watch.

While the Bible does not say for sure, it is my theory that this place along the Nile was carefully chosen by the brave mother of Moses. I think she knew where Pharaoh’s daughter took her bath. I think that, while it was a long shot, she figured that while a murderous king might not understand the special love of a mother for her child that might lead her to risk her life to save him, another woman who longed to be a mother well might. If this is what she reasoned, then Jochebed was right. The daughter of Pharaoh came along at just the right time (that’s always the timing of God’s providence, isn’t it?) and ordered her servants to retrieve the basket and the baby.

"When she opened it," says the Bible, "she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrews' children.’ Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, ‘Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?’ And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, ‘Go ahead.’ So the girl went and called the child's mother. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me and I shall give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, ‘Because I drew him out of the water.’" (Exodus 2:6-10)

The courage of this young mother provided Israel with its greatest lawgiver. Her son, Moses, would bless the world.

What story do you suppose we would we be reading today if Jochebed had allowed here fear to rule her actions? What if she had been easily influenced by the actions of others? What if she had put her own safety ahead of that of her child? I cannot begin to imagine how different the Bible record would be.

A good mom must be brave at times even if her child doesn’t grow up to be a Moses. She must occasionally stand against the flow of events. She must stand up and say "no" when it seems every other human being in the world is saying "yes." Her children must be cared for in a manner that only she can provide. She is their earliest defender. She is their first-line advocate. God has placed within her that "natural affection" that gives her courage beyond her own fear when it is necessary. Sometimes she must love her children even more than her own life.

Here is to all those courageous moms, recognized or unrecognized, who have stood for the good of their children against threats from within and without.

Great men often come from great mothers. It certainly was the case with Moses and his mother, Jochebed. I’m sure that knowledge of her courage in risking her life for his would later give Moses a basis for his own bravery in leading Israel out of bondage. (We know he knew the story because he is the author of Exodus, the Bible book where the story is told.)

This idea of great men coming from great mothers was also true of Israel’s important judge and prophet, Samuel.

Samuel’s mom wasn’t a mother at all as she first appeared in scripture. Though she was married she could not conceive children. Yet having a child was one of the greatest desires of her life.

It was a day when some men had multiple wives. Polygamy was not a part of God’s original plan as announced in the book of Genesis, which speaks of a man and his wife (not wives). It appears that God tolerated it in a time when, as the Bible says, "Every man did what was right in his own eyes."(2)

The woman, Hannah, was the first wife of a Jewish priest named Elkanah. We don’t know how or why this man took a second wife. But as in all cases of polygamy, there were problems. The Bible calls the second wife, a woman named Peninnah, Hannah’s "rival."(3) Surely there was a world of heartache behind that word.

Peninnah, Elkanah’s second wife, was a cruel woman. Because she was able to conceive children so easily, she picked on the barren Hannah almost constantly. The Bible says, "Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. And it happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she would provoke her, so she wept and would not eat." (1 Samuel 1:6)

Elkanah did all he could to console Hannah. "Why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" he said. (1 Samuel 1:8)

(By the way guys don’t try that last line if you want to console your wife!)

Though Hannah could not conceive children, she could pray. On one of the trips with her husband to Shiloah where they worshipped God, she poured out all of her misery and disappointment to Lord. It was not a prayer of complaint, though that is what you might expect after all those years of torment. Neither was it a prayer for God to avenge her rival, though such torment for so long would turn to bitterness in many people. But there is not a cross word from Hannah recorded in the passage that describes her dilemma. She was not that kind of person. Instead she told God that if He would give her a son, she would dedicate the boy to His service all the days of his life.

Here impassioned prayer was so gut-wrenching the High Priest thought she must be drunk as her body quaked and shook while she prayed silently to herself and God. The misunderstanding was cleared when she explained to Eli that she was pouring her heart out to her God. They parted with a good understanding, then the Bible says, "So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad."

This sudden change of countenance can mean only one thing. She knew that she had now done everything she could do. She had poured out her heart before God. She had placed her case before her Creator. She would wait for His decision.

"And it came about in due time, (says the Bible) after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I have asked him of the Lord..’" (1 Samuel 1:20)

She kept Samuel with her until he was weaned, then Hannah did what must have been the most difficult act of her entire life. She made good on her promise and delivered Samuel to Eli the Priest to be raised and trained and used in service of God.

After that, Hannah gave birth to five other children – three boys and two girls. (That must have shut Peninnah up!) But she never forgot Samuel. Every year she made him a little robe and took it to him in the tenderest expression of motherly love. How they must have talked of that marvelous answer to prayer! How she must have built into Samuel a confidence in the God of Heaven as a prayer answering God! Surely the influence of this godly mother did much to make Samuel the great man that he was.

Hannah was a mother of faith and prayer. Her boy, as he grew to be both judge and prophet in Israel, would embody the same qualities. In fact, one of the most memorable statements of Samuel’s life to me is in 1 Samuel 12:23. Israel had sinned and they came to Samuel and asked him to pray for them. His response was: "Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you…." Prayer was such a part of his life that to imagine not doing it seemed to him like a sin.

I know that Samuel wasn’t born to see the occasion of his mother’s prayer for a child. But she probably told him about it. Surely he must have seen his mother pray on those occasions when she visited him. She knew that God answered prayer! With deep conviction she poured that conviction into her boy! Mothers of deep commitment to prayer influence their children to be people of prayer.

Moms - are you praying for your children? Do you let your children see you pray? Don’t do it only when you put them to bed at night. Let them see you pray at other times. Let them see you pray when the pressure is on. Call them together to pray when there is a big need. Marvelous things can happen to build the faith of your offspring when God answers your prayers.

Actually, this story includes two moms – one named Eunice and her mother, named Lois. This was the mother and grandmother of Timothy, Paul’s young friend and an evangelist who was his most trusted assistant.

Not much is said in the Bible about these two women, but what is written is powerful. In 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul wrote to Timothy: "For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well."

What a wonderful tribute to these two women! We could stop there and talk about a mother’s great role in passing her faith on to her children. But there is an even sharper point on this.

In Acts 16:1, Luke introduces Timothy to us for the first time. He writes, "And he [Paul] came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek…."

Because of the way this verse is worded, it appears that Timothy’s dad was not a Christian. He was a Greek and not a Jew. That, in itself, is not enough to make a determination, but it specifically mentions that Timothy’s mom was a believer and does not say the same of his father.

We don’t know why Eunice was married to a non-believer. Perhaps her father arranged the marriage and she had no say in it. Perhaps she became a Christian and her husband didn’t. Whatever might be the reason, I believe that God has left this story in the Bible for every mother who has to go it alone, without the help of a Christian husband, in bringing up children to know and love the Lord. Yes, it’s tough. But the testimony of God’s word is that it can be done.

It would be very easy in such a situation to be discouraged and think that you cannot possibly influence your children to become believers without the help of a believing mate. Satan would love for you to believed that! But these verses show that you can transmit your strong faith to your children. Note there that I said "strong" faith. Anemic faith doesn’t travel well from one generation to the next. But if you have a strong faith, you can implant the seed of that faith in every one of your children. Lois did it. And in the next generation, Eunice did it.

Our time is gone.

The following piece was written by Mary Rita Schilke Korzan and comes from the book, Stories For the Heart. I want to dedicate it to all the mothers who might hear my words:

Happy Mother’s Day, moms. We love you, when you think we’re looking and when you think we’re not.

Footnotes: Use your "back" button to return to your place.

1. Source Unknown.
2. Judges 17:6
3. 1 Samuel 1:6
4. As quoted by Alan Smith, Boone Church of Christ, Boone, NC.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

[Archive]    [Home]   [Comments]   [Search]