Writing God’s Faithfulness on Human Hearts: Motherhood in Hard Times
The Pause before the Go: Finding the Presence and Faithfulness of God in Hard Times
Lesson 7: Writing God’s Faithfulness on Human Hearts: Motherhood in Hard Times
“My Son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. TRUST in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:1-6
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:26-27
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such CONFIDENCE as this is ours through Christ before God.” 2 Corinthians 3:2-5
Shakespeare famously wrote: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” (As You Like It: Act II, Scene VII, Line 139) but as he emphasizes the stage and its seasons of life while humbling its participants Shakespeare is really exalting the unseen author and director of the stage. Think about it, when we take in a really exceptional play, movie or concert what are we most impressed with if not the writing and composition- the author himself? Imagine if you will, being there for the first performance of Romeo and Juliet, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, The Wizard of Oz, or Handel’s Messiah. Sure, the acting and musicians are great but the written word, the composition of notes, the authorship is timeless- that is what defines a Classic!
Now take that imagery to the Written Word of God; to the Beginning where there is darkness over the chaotic face of the deep and out of the silence before time; God speaks: “Let there be light! And there was light.” The order, and genesis of all human history are creatively put into motion by His Word. Now flash forward to what Hebrews 12:18-21 describes: a mountain brimming with fire, dark skies, lightning, thunder, and the great fear of the Israelites. A shadowy figure is barely glimpsed through the horrifying gloom, and then out of the veil, out of the terror and awe of the holiness and righteousness of God- comes Moses approaching the people holding the Word of God- His Ten Commandments carved into tablets of stone- Commandments for all the people. They are Commandments of life, of God’s holiness, reflections of His character, written from heaven for us on earth. But is it enough for us? Will the Words on stone bridge the gap of our sin that separates us from God? Can hearts of flesh penetrate God’s everlasting Word? Is it possible for human minds, human hearts and human will to keep the Commandments? What does the Old Testament and the testimony of the saints tell us? The Author, the Director and His Words are greater than the participants- greater than the stage upon which they are set! To great to comprehend, let alone perform. Words on stone can’t save us!
No, in and of ourselves it is impossible for humans to penetrate the Word of God, but that was never the plan anyway… God’s plan was for His Word to penetrate us by grace through Jesus Christ our LORD; to transplant, transfigure, transcribe His Word from tablets of stone to being written on human hearts! Belief in the faithfulness of God shown by and through the Gospel of Christ Jesus will accomplish this. The transplantation, transfiguration, and transcription of God’s Holy Word onto human hearts by the gracious actions of Jesus Christ is what He will use to transform us as we become the New Creation His love has already made us to be (2 Cor 5:14-18). God is faithful. This Mother’s Day we need to know and Trust in Jesus more than we know and trust in anything else. So, since Christ (the author and finisher of our Faith) is writing His Commandments on our hearts, what is one of the crucial methods that He is using to do it? He is using Godly, Mothers and/or Godly Mother figures in our lives.
I pray this will be the most memorable Mother’s Day we ever celebrate… It is not an easy day, nor is it necessarily a very “happy” one. We’re not Ostriches with our heads buried in the sand… The light-hearted/mushy church videos, family get-togethers, flowers, cards, well-wishes and meals because of COVID-19 are either unavailable to us this year, or just don’t bring enough comfort to the ache and longing of being with the ones we love! I admit, I would give anything to be able to hug my mom this Mother’s Day as she is still in Quarantine. Many of us have mothers that are no longer with us, or maybe even mothers that were not there for us, estranged or left us a lot of grief and suffering… But as we’ve talked about in other lessons, we ALWAYS want to begin somewhere other than our circumstances or even our family heritage, pasts, and current living situations. We want to begin with the love, goodness and faithfulness of God, and His Word that He is writing on our hearts. Once we begin there with TRUSTING our Good God- who never leaves us, never forsakes us, never gives up on us, we can then look for His Hand of goodness as shown through those godly women that He has placed in our lives… Then we can remember, we can be thankful, we can be challenged to be better ourselves, and even in hard times we can celebrate.
I think of my own Mom, Paula Ray. My mother is a story teller and a story maker! She would tell me stories of the Country where I was born (as she and Dad were stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War): stories of golden temples rising up out of steamy jungles reflecting heat and sunlight, of the King of Thailand and lavish banquets with the royal court, U.S. Military, and the Department of State. She would tell me of her and Dad’s Cold War exploits against the Soviets and her efforts as a young mother taking care of 2 children, one of which had special medical needs. But even more so, the “storytelling” of the past led to an invitation for her, as a mom, me, my sister, Dad, and others to participate as “story makers;” she worked hard to make memories- and oh what memories they were! Many are happy, adventurous, mysterious, and nostalgic but as in life, not our entire “story making” was pleasant…
There are whole chapters of our family story- whole chapters as mother and son dealing with circumstances and obstacles that none of us would like to relive or overcome again… Yet God was using the storytelling and the story making in an even more profound way; a way in my life that I did not see till I was an adult. God the author and definer of faithfulness for all of life was using my mom as an “underwriter” to show His faithfulness specifically towards me… The First Ten Commandments I ever saw and read were not written in stone outside a courthouse, or even in my first children’s Bible, they were written on the heart of my Mom and expressed and illustrated to me! My initial understanding of love, truth, mercy, grace, justice, sacrifice, compassion, the very heart of God were displayed by His Word written in hearts of flesh, my parents- my mom and that made all the difference and continues to make a difference as we face this hard time today.
Did you and do you have a woman like that in your life? Any of us can have spiritual moms that can fill this role in our lives… If you are a mother/grandmother is this the kind of woman you are becoming? Are you storytelling, story making, story writing The great story of God (“of Christ in you the hope of glory”)on the hearts of women and children that you have been gifted to lead and to shepherd? Writing on their hearts with the very Words of God that have been graciously written on yours? You are writing from one heart of flesh to another from generation to generation- as a part of a “Great Cloud of Witnesses” storytelling, story making, story writing with what we as a church call LIVING TESTIMONY; the embodiment of Jesus to others as He embodied the WORD of scripture to us for the glory of God and for the possible welfare of all that are made in His image. What a privilege, what a responsibility, what a thing to be thankful for, to share and to celebrate this Mother’s Day!
My prayer for you this Mother’s Day, in the midst of hard times, is that God will remind you of the legacy of spiritual mothers that have come before you and ministered His Word to you. That He will write His Word on your heart, and bind them to your neck that you might be the vessel by which God writes His Living Word on another future mother’s or father’s life for His glory, for your legacy, and for the benefit of many others!!! Happy Mother’s Day!
Please remember that God is faithful and act on this truth first this week! Know I am praying for all of you! This too shall pass and we will be together again soon! I love you all! Again, my email address is: dray@wyliebaptist.org if you want to talk and/or pray! All the best, and May God richly bless you!
Love in Christ, Darrin.