Finding God in Motherhood

When it comes to motherhood, what words come to your mind? For me, they are patience, grace, joy, and love – all words directly connected to the character of our good God!

Patience

Amidst the chaos of motherhood, we must clothe ourselves in patience. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit and one that moms must equip themselves with daily. It is easy to become discouraged by all the negatives that motherhood brings - your child not listening to you, running late, and dealing with selfish tendencies – both theirs and ours. That is why we need to exhibit Biblical patience. Biblical patience is not merely waiting, but waiting on the Lord - for wisdom, for guidance, for His peace, and for His presence. Biblical patience is the discipline of being slow to anger, long-suffering (endurance), and forbearing (restrained). Patience and suffering are linked and serve as a reminder for us to persevere and remain steadfast in God’s faithfulness even in our struggles.

I am in awe of Christ’s perfect patience toward us - even as He waits for us to draw nearer to Him and rely on Him more in our daily lives - and the example that it serves for those of us who believe in Him. I know I will never be as patient as Christ is towards me, but I strive to follow Christ’s example and patiently teach and guide my children instead of flaring up in anger so easily. And through this battle between patience and anger, the word grace comes into play.

Grace

As mothers, it is easy to compare ourselves to others. Our thoughts are the prime battleground for the enemy to work. Some overwhelming thoughts as mothers include “I’m not doing a good enough job as a mom,” “There isn’t enough time,” and “I’m no longer beautiful.” Satan use these lies to pull us away from God’s grace. Instead of believing those lies, we need to ground ourselves in Jesus and bring all of our fears, doubts, and worries to Him - He can handle all of them and He sees you, as His daughter, as worthy and enough. God’s grace abounds to the ends of the earth, and as mothers, we must allow it to fill us by remembering that our children need us and were wonderfully created for us in God’s perfect timing; we are the perfect mother for each of our children and God has equipped us with the strengths and weaknesses we need to be able to raise them. And through immeasurable grace, joy comes.

Joy

Joy comes naturally in motherhood—like the overwhelming love you feel when holding your child for the f irst time. It is one of the best feelings in the world - one that nothing can compare to. Most importantly, we enjoy motherhood because we enjoy the beautiful work of the Gospel within our hearts and souls. And in turn, we hope others can see our joy as we trust the goodness of the Lord in every circumstance.

Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

If we want to know true joy, we must know Jesus. To truly know Jesus, we have to stop finding joy in the lesser (worldly) things, even our ideal version of motherhood. We must walk with Him, be in His Word, and pray ceaselessly. Joy in Christ may not change our circumstances, but it strengthens our faith in them. We will be able to have good feelings because of who Jesus is, what He’s done for us, and what He’s going to do even when life is hard. This type of deep, steadfast, unchanging joy transforms us as moms in many ways; true joy causes us to rejoice, enjoy, and spread joy. Hand in hand with joy comes love.

Love

Motherhood is a profound journey of love and selflessness with mothers embodying unconditional love and serving as a reflection of God’s nurturing care. The Bible affirms that we are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and that He Himself is love (1 John 4:8,16).

A mother’s love is powerful - “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” - Proverbs 31:25.

A mother’s love lays a spiritual foundation - “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” - Proverbs 22:6.

The calling for all of us is to love like God loves us; when a mother has for her child mirrors God’s love for us, we see the following attributes demonstrated by that love:

Forever Binding - “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:38-39.

Selfless - “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

Without condition - “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him” - 1 John 4:16. A mother’s love is the gift of love that God sent down from Heaven.

We love because He first loved us. Draw near to the love of God and rest in His promises in your season of motherhood – He is using you in building His Kingdom on this earth until He returns in glory. You are dearly loved, mother!

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