~A Mother's Love~

"Mother's Love" by Kolongi Brathwaite

Today, I watched one of my best friends baptize her little girl, who is eight years old.  What a beautiful moment to experience!  I've watched many dads proudly baptize their children over the years; I always find it very moving, and it always brings tears to my eyes.   But today, watching Ellie walk down into the water with Skye, it was somehow different from what I've seen before.  I almost had to turn away because the sacredness of the moment was too overwhelming for me.  Ellie loves her little girl with a holy fierceness that only a mother's heart can feel...a holy, glowing fierceness that was brought out and accentuated while they stood together in the baptismal waters.

Which got me thinking about the different ways God loves us. First, I'll start off saying that we are mostly all accustomed to viewing God as a father... Christianity has a history saturated with the patriarchal influence, which is all well and good. I don't disagree with the basic premise, even though I don't always agree with the practical application of the perspective. God chose to call himself the "Father," and I'm comfortable with that.

But sometimes it would do us well to remember that God also loves us like a "Mother."  Sometimes He loves us with a holy, glowing fierceness that can only be compared to the passion a mother feels for her child. This is the fervent love that promises God will never leave us or forsake us. This is the love that jealously protects us, quiets us, rejoices over us, and restores our strength.

Soon after I first became a mother, I heard or read somewhere that a mother's first instinct, in a life-threatening situation, is to protect or save her children, while a father's first instinct is to save the mother of his children.  In other words, a mother is more likely to give her own life to save her child's than a father is. Or, she will save her child before she saves her husband. I have no idea if this is true or not, but the thought has stuck with me through the years. I recently read an article about a mother's love bringing her dead baby back to life 2 hours after the doctors pronounced him dead! Undeniably, there is a mysterious bond between a mother and child that even  a father cannot enter into.

 There are times when Satan has had his way with me, when I have been devastated by my own sin and crushed by my own lack of faith, when I am weary with anxiety and broken in spirit.  I feel like a disobedient child who lives in fear of judgement and discipline. Do you ever feel this way?  These are the times that we need someone to remind us of God's mother-love. Read these beautiful words of the prophet Zephaniah and know that God loves you with an everlasting love:

Sing, O Daughter of Zion; 

Shout aloud, O Israel!

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, 

O Daughter of of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away your punishment,

He has turned back your enemy.  

The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you;

never again will you fear any harm...He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love, 

He will rejoice over you with singing.

The sorrows....I will remove from you;

they are a burden and a reproach to you...

I will deal with all who oppressed you.

I will rescue the lame

and gather those who have been scattered...

At that time, I will gather you;

At that time, I will bring you home.   

(Zephaniah 3: 14ff)

God loves us with a holy fierceness. This is the fervent love that promises God will never leave us or forsake us. This is the love that jealously protects us, quiets us, rejoices over us, and restores our strength. This is the love of a mother.

Chrissy