“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12)
In certain sections of the country, it’s said that it is best to wait until the week after Mother’s Day before you do any planting. This will hopefully get you past any chance of frost which will kill your plantings. So this upcoming week, many people will be putting their vegetable plants in the ground. Most of those folks will probably be buying plants that have already been given a head start in a commercial greenhouse. This year, I decided to purchase a small seed starting system. So about six weeks ago I got out my seed packets and read the instructions. They stated “just add seeds, light, and water.” I laughed to myself thinking, “Hmmm…all the things that God provides.” That’s like saying that you can bake an apple pie comparable to your mom’s if you have her recipe. My guess is that the best thing about her pie was the ‘pinch of this or that’ or the special crimping of the crust which never got written down as part of the recipe. Just like the seed starting system, those missing ingredients are the ones that brought flavor and magnificence to the final product that only mom knew how to do.
Whether it was her apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, or even that store-bought dessert – she knew that it was your favorite, and it would be there to top off a meal or brighten your day just when you needed a special treat. As a little kid, when you fell on the playground, no one could kiss away your ‘boo-boos’ like your mom. She knew exactly how to read you to sleep each night and could scare away monsters from under the bed when you woke up later from a bad dream. And as you grew older and thought there were times that you didn’t need her input or advice, it only took a disconcerting event in your life to realize that she was a great source of comfort. Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”
It’s amazing when you think about it that some of the best qualities we attribute to our moms are similar to those we also find in a loving God who cares for us. When the storms of life prevail, both greet us with open arms. They provide refuge and strength when we are discouraged. Both inspire and reassure us with their words of wisdom and authority. Our mother and our God give us the opportunity to choose our own path in life, hoping that we will not stray too far from what we have been taught. But when we drift further than we should, both continue to be there and always welcome us back home into their loving arms.
It is written, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you…” (Isaiah 66:13). In a day when there is too little love, we might ask God to give us a deeper appreciation for the privilege of being an expression of His love. We need to thank Him for revealing His nature through the love of mothers as we claim His promise to be a like a mother to us. After all – who understands us better? “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). Someone said, “No one loves you like your mom.” They were mostly right, but then they remembered who created her.
REFLECTION: In what ways have you found refuge as a child of God to be similar to the protection your mother provided when you were a young child? If you are fortunate enough to still have you mother, can you find ways that God continues to use her as a source of comfort in your life? In what ways might you praise God by showing appreciation to those individuals who have revealed their motherly love to you?
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