Celebrating the Strength and Influence of Motherhood

As a child, I watched my mother juggle the world with one hand while holding mine with the other—her strength unspoken yet deeply felt. Our latest episode celebrates that unyielding power of motherhood, from stories of my own grandmother's influence to the heartfelt journey of my wife as a mother. We venture through the trials and triumphs inherent in motherhood, sharing anecdotes that resonate with anyone who's witnessed a mother's love. Acknowledging the biblical mothers like Naomi and Hannah, we honor their legacy and draw connections to the silent battles and societal pressures mothers still face today.

This episode is an ode to the sacred role of moms everywhere, recognized for their infinite sacrifices and the unwavering love they shower upon us. We shine a light on the emotional narrative of Hannah and the societal expectations captured in Proverbs 31, recognizing the complex tapestry of motherhood. It's a heartfelt tribute, inviting all mothers to take a moment to stand and be applauded for the profound impact they make on our lives. Join us as we celebrate the mothers in our lives with stories of resilience, faith, and the blessings they so generously give.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:05

Well, happy Mother's Day. Lovely to see all the moms here. I know we had a brunch yesterday, so I hope you were able to participate in that. If not, hopefully next year.

Speaker 1: 1:19

I think it's important, going into the start of today, to acknowledge that being a mom looks different for everyone, and then I think a lot of times we can overlook that. But to the moms that are maybe your kids aren't here, maybe they live away from you, maybe you're in a stage of life where you're at that empty nester stage. To the moms who have small kids at home and just getting here on a Sunday morning is a battle sometimes Because, for whatever reason, the middle child decided that that's not the shoes he wanted to wear today. To the grandmas who are maybe you're raising your grandkids, maybe it was unexpected and maybe right now you're in the process of raising kids again. To the mothers who have lost children either recently or in the past. To the mothers who want to be mothers and haven't yet been blessed with the opportunity to have a child. To all the mothers, to all the women who fulfill that role of being a mother, I just want to let you know from the bottom of my heart thank you for being who you are and whatever season you are in life, the God of all creation sees you, he knows you, he feels you, he understands all of it. And the message this morning is we're actually going to take a look at several different kinds of moms throughout scripture. Throughout scripture.

Speaker 1: 3:09

I grew up being raised by a single mom Raised three boys On her own. By the grace of God, none of us killed each other, although we came close. Me in particular. I was a fighter and the other two would tag team me all the time and I would fight tooth and nail to win. And as I got bigger, it only got worse for them. I know what it's like. And then having a mom who was there, who worked multiple jobs, but we were blessed my grandmother and my grandfather lived next door growing up, and my grandmother a lot of times fulfilled that role as well. I tell people all the time and it's kind of an excuse, but not anymore I am the size that I am because my grandmother never thought I was fed enough. It's not true, by the way, but every time I would come over to her house she would prepare us a full meal. When my parents, when my grandparents both became diabetic, my grandmother would buy us Pepsi regular Pepsi that they could not drink, just so she could have it in her house for us.

Speaker 1: 4:24

To my incredible wife who raises three kids under the age of eight, who gets them here on a Sunday morning so I can do what I do. To my wife, who experienced the loss of two children. You know, mothers come in all different shapes and sizes. Being a mother is difficult, but it's also some of the most rewarding things you can do. I know for a fact Because when I watch our kids and the way my wife looks at them, I'm grateful that she's their mom. When you sit around with your kids and last night Miles came to us and we've been doing this book, we've been praying through together as a family when your kid walks up and says Jesus, it reminds you that in the middle of the chaos that they are paying attention. And so this morning we're going to look at a couple different mothers and we're actually going to start out in the book of Ruth.

Speaker 1: 5:36

Start in Ruth, chapter 1. Now it's interesting. Ruth is the one that had a book written about her in Scripture and Ruth did amazing things, but really it's her mother-in-law who set the stage for Ruth to become Ruth. It said Ruth, chapter 1, verses 1 through 14, in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, wanted to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelech, His wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahon and Kilion. They were Ephratites from Bethlehem, judah, and they went to Moab and they lived there. Now Elimelech, naomi's husband died and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpha and the other named Ruth, and after they had lived there about 10 years, both Maon and Kilion also died and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Speaker 1: 6:54

When Naomi heard and Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of the people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there With her two daughters-in-law. She left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law go back, each of you to your mother's home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband. Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and they said to her we will go back with you to your people. But Naomi said Return home my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons who could become your husbands? Return home my daughters. I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me, even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons, would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters, it is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has turned against me and this. They wept aloud again and or orphan kissed her mother-in-law goodbye. But Ruth clung to her.

Speaker 1: 8:13

Now, if you've ever read the book of Ruth, you would know that in this moment Ruth stays faithful to Naomi. Naomi is trying to tell her and she's speaking to her daughter-in-law and she says listen, daughter-in-law. And she says listen, you could stay with me, but I'm not going to have any more kids at this point because I'm probably not even going to have a husband, and so you would end up being an unmarried woman and culturally that just wasn't acceptable. And so she encourages both of them go back to where you came from. Now, it's interesting that you know they're a Moab. So both of these women that are sons of Mary are Moabites. Based on what we know about the culture, they had a pagan religion that they practiced. So her sons, you know they're from Jerusalem. Right, they're followers of God, but her sons marry women who are not, and so both her sons die and her husband. And she has her daughter-in-law to come with her and she tries to encourage them to leave and they don't. Orpha leaves, but Ruth stays.

Speaker 1: 9:33

Naomi had everything. They left the land they were in because of a famine and when she arrived at Moab she had a husband, she had sons, they were blessed to have wives, she had everything that she could ever imagine and then she lost all of it, but in her loss. And, like I said, the reason why I think it's interesting the book that Ruth has a book written about her but not Naomi is because Naomi sets the stage for Ruth to become someone who follows after God. It's crazy. So Ruth decides and she insists on staying with her mother-in-law and she even says to her listen, I'm going to stay with you, your people are now my people and your God is now my God. So she lived a life. Naomi lived such a life, and she lived a life through grief in such a way that her faith in God was instilled upon her daughter-in-law. So even in the middle of chaos and the loss of everything, naomi stayed faithful and she passed that faithfulness on to her daughter. So Ruth would eventually stay with her and they would find themselves traveling back to her hometown because the harvest had come in.

Speaker 1: 11:10

If you read through the book of Ruth, she meets a man by the name of Boaz, which is a really honorable man, a man of God, and Boaz eventually ends up marrying Ruth, and here's the best part about this story. Naomi remained faithful to God, which in turn allowed Ruth to see the importance of following God. So Naomi mothered Ruth. Ruth gave her life to their God, mothered Ruth. Ruth gave her life to their God. Ruth and Boaz eventually get married two people seeking the same God and from this union comes a child by the name of Obed. Later on, ruth and Boaz, after they're married, has a child by the name of Obed. Obed would become the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, and from the line of David we find Jesus. So, once again, I think it's interesting that Ruth was the one that had a book written about her.

Speaker 1: 12:26

Naomi stayed faithful to God and is now the great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother of Jesus. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine being able to look in your life at how you're raising your kids and you see their future down the line? Can you imagine being Naomi and just knowing that, because you were faithful to your son's wife, which was your daughter-in-law, because you had such strong faith and she developed it, that she would eventually give birth to someone who would be in the line of Jesus himself, the savior of all humanity? Because moms are important to the spiritual destiny of their children. They set the tone, not just moms, but moms. Hear me. Your children and the life that they have and the relationship they have with God is learned from you. They watch what you do, they watch what you say, they watch how you respond, they listen to what you say about other people in the church, out of the church, because your legacy as a mother is far greater than you and I will ever understand. And Naomi would be part of the lineage of the one who would save humanity because she remained faithful to her God. Because she remained faithful to her God, don't underestimate the little things that you try to instill in your kids. Don't underestimate the importance of a conversation about faith or a prayer before you go to bed, because you might not know the destiny of your children, but God does. Naomi was faithful and in her faithfulness God blessed her. 1 Samuel 1, 1 through 8.

Speaker 1: 15:06

We're going to move to a different mom, a woman by the name of Hannah. So there's a certain man from Ramathon, a Zophite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah, son of Jeraham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuth. I swear, every time I say Tohu I think Tofu, sorry. In Ephraim, right, he had two wives, one who was called Hannah and the other Paniah. Paniah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year, this man went up to the town to worship and to sacrifice the Lord Almighty at Shiloh. When we're hopping in Phineas, the two sons of Eli were priests of the Lord Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife, penaniah, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her and the Lord had closed her womb.

Speaker 1: 16:08

Because the Lord had closed Hannah's womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her until she wept and could not eat. Her husband, elkanah, would say to her and by the way, when I read this part, this is how I feel sometimes as a husband, when I ask my wife a question that I think is solving the problem, and it's not actually, and it actually just makes everything worse he says Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons? Once again, I know where he's coming from, but the guy missed the boat. I know where he's coming from, but the guy missed the boat.

Speaker 1: 16:58

So Hannah is struggling because, for whatever reason, god has made her barren, she hasn't had the opportunity to have children and especially culturally, that was difficult for her to deal with, because back then, and I would say even now, there's an expectation to have children, to raise them, especially to have boys. If you were a father back then, you wanted a boy so they could pass on your namesake. And so Hannah, up until this point, has remained childless. She actually finds herself crying in the temple, so much that she's accused of drinking, because she's so overwhelmed with grief. And once again, her husband means well, but he's really just not paying attention. It's not that she doesn't love him, she just wanted to know what it was to be a mom. Eventually, as you continue to read the story of Hannah, she's blessed later in life to have a child.

Speaker 1: 18:23

Her child's name was Samuel. By the way. He has two books in the Old Testament written about him. He would become a prophet for God and he would one day anoint David the king, the same David who was the son of Jesse, who was the son of Obed, who was the son of Ruth. Can you imagine how incredible that is? You have these two incredible women who have been faithful to God. You have Naomi, who ministered to her daughter-in-law, brought her to the knowledge of Jesus, whose daughter would eventually produce the lineage of the line of Jesus. And then you have Hannah, who bears a son by the name of Samuel, who has two books about him in the Old Testament, who would actually be David's right-hand man. Be David's right-hand man. He would come alongside him, encourage him. He would be a prophet for God.

Speaker 1: 19:21

Once again, moms, don't underestimate the value of how much impact your faith has on your kids. These women did not know what their kids would become. Naomi felt as if her life was over. Hannah felt as if she would never have kids, but they remained faithful to God through it, and their faithfulness would go on to bring about Jesus, the one who would save all of humanity. I can imagine they never saw their names written in these books. I can't imagine Ruth knew that she had a book written about her. But they were faithful Because sometimes a parent's faith nope, all the time. A parent's faith is important Because we model for our kids the kind of life they want to have. We model for them the kind of relationship we want them to have with God.

Speaker 1: 20:54

I'm going to poke fun at this verse a little bit. So, to anyone who loves Proverbs 31 and the woman represented there, I'm not knocking her as a good ideal, but I do think that it's important to look at the fact that the Proverbs 31 woman that's represented is great. But if we're really being honest, most people, especially women, struggle to live up to that standard. And, by the way, that's not a knock on you at all, please don't take it that way. But being a mother is tough. A lot of times you don't prioritize your own faith. A lot of times you don't prioritize your own faith. A lot of times you don't prioritize your own self day to day.

Speaker 1: 21:40

There was a meme floating around on Facebook that I thought was I shouldn't have laughed at it, but I did, and then my wife laughed at it, so I found I kind of felt a little bit better about it. But it was basically hey, husbands, remember to tell your wives on Saturday, get the house cleaned up so she doesn't have to do it on Sunday and thank you. That makes me feel a little better. There will be a stoning after service if you want to. I'm just kidding, but it's funny.

Speaker 1: 22:12

But it also kind of, I think it realizes, or should help us realize, that society has this expectation on moms, especially just women in general, to be able to carry the load of everything. I mean the video is funny about the purse, but how true is that? Because moms have to do so much. And so, once again, I'm not knocking the Proverbs 31, woman, because I think that that's, once again, it's poetry and you have to read it like that. But I think we have to understand that moms need a little bit of grace too.

Speaker 1: 22:47

There are moms that are at different stages of life, especially when it comes to their faith, and our goal should be to come across and come along and help them, not just once a month, not just once a year, because women are important and the Bible shows us this that women have a great deal of impact on the faith of their kids. Lois and Eunice were the mother to Timothy. Timothy would eventually fall under Paul as a disciple and he would end up being a disciple of the church in Ephesus. And Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1.5, I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother, lois, and in your mother, eunice, and I am persuaded now also lives in you. And then you go back to the book of Genesis and you see the story of Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah doesn't have children, but God has promised them a nation and she ends up having a child later in life and through that child the nation of Israel is born, which eventually brings about Jesus.

Speaker 1: 24:16

Luke 1, 11 through 18 talks about the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, both older in age. Eventually, elizabeth would have a son who would become John the Baptist, and John the Baptist would pave the way for Jesus. Exodus 2, 1 through 10, talks about Moses and at birth, when his mom had him, she feared for his life. So she put him in a basket when he was about three months old and she sent him up the river to be found by Pharaoh's daughter and then brought back to her and raised him, and then eventually he would end up being put into Pharaoh's house. He would rise up and eventually God would use him to set the people of Israel free. And then we go back to Ruth. In Ruth 1, 16-18, ruth replied don't urge me to leave you or to turn my back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Naomi's faithfulness to Ruth would produce a faithfulness in Ruth that would eventually bring about the birth of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 25:41

Moms, don't ever underestimate how important you are. Maybe there's. You know what I know. I know that there are moms here that maybe their kids are not where they want them to be. Don't underestimate all the work that you put into place. Don't underestimate the prayer you say for them every night before you go to bed, because, who knows? They might just be the next King David. Who knows what God has in store for them and who knows other than God himself that you, being their mom, was exactly what they needed to be everything God wanted them to be? Don't undervalue your ministry as a mother. Bring your kids to church, but make sure they see it at home too. Make sure your kids read the scriptures, but make sure they see you reading it too. Teach your kids how to pray. Make sure you pray with them. Model for them the kind of important relationship they should have with God and then trust God to do the rest.

Speaker 1: 27:15

All throughout the Bible we see women who fill different roles and lives of the children they're with. I said it earlier at the beginning you know there's women that might not be able to have children at this point in their life, but maybe you can be the best aunt someone's ever had. Maybe you can be the best cousin they've ever seen. Maybe your nieces and nephews will find faith because of your faith. Maybe God has brought people kids into your life that you can oversee and you can help. Maybe you're a grandmother who's raising your kids' kids, your kids' kids. Continue to be faithful in what you're doing and know that you're not alone. Maybe your mom who's struggling because it's just you Let me be an example that you might be the only one raising your kids, but they can still turn out pretty okay. Don't underestimate the importance of being a mother. Don't underestimate the influence you can have In someone's life. Naomi was faithful to God and, in turn, became a grandmother to Jesus. Hannah was faithful to God and, in turn, produced Samuel, who would be a prophet For the most high. Don't underestimate Every little thing that you do, because who knows, but God himself what your kid's going to do?

Speaker 1: 29:39

So, mom, thank you for being moms. Thank you for loving us at our worst. Thank you for all the nights where you wiped our snotty noses. Thank you for all the nights where you changed our bed sheets. Thank you for all the nights that you didn't sleep so that we could, for all the nights that you didn't sleep so that we could. Thank you for all the meals that you sacrificed so that we could eat. Thank you for driving a car that was falling apart so we could have money for sports. Thank you for showing us what it means to be loved, and thank you for loving us Moms.

Speaker 1: 30:32

It's on this day that we honor you. I normally don't do this, but I would love all the moms to stand at this point. I would love all the moms to stand at this point. I think all of you deserve a wonderful round of applause. As John said earlier, none of us would be here without you. So thank you for who you are, thank you for every sacrifice you've ever made. May God continue to bless you in your life and everything that you do. Let's pray.