"Motherhood: Faith That Sets The Example"

Motherhood: Faith That Sets The Example

I don’t know why, but it seems that when Mother’s Day comes around each year, I can’t let it pass without preaching a sermon on it. I’m more likely to let Father’s Day pass by without a message specifically for fathers—which doesn’t make a lot of sense, seeing as I’m a father myself, so I have a lot more to say to fathers than mothers! Maybe the reason I tend to do something special for Mother’s Day is because I think mothers are some of the most under-appreciated people in the world. On Mother’s Day I like to remind everyone to be good to their mothers and appreciate them more. But today’s message is not about how to be good to your mother; today’s message is about a mother who had to make some hard choices for the welfare of her son. Being a mother or a father isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires some tough decisions—decisions that are risky and heart-wrenching, decisions that require faith.

Exodus 2:1-10 (NKJV)

Jochebed: A finely drawn portrait of a mother with faith

I’d like for us to reflect on the story of a woman who is mentioned only a few times in Scripture. Yet despite her low profile, she provides a finely drawn portrait of a mother with faith. In fact, she even made it into the “Hall of Fame” for faith in Hebrews 11:23. Her name, according to Numbers 26:59, was Jochebed. She was Moses’ mother.

The nation Israel had been in Egypt for almost 400 years. They grew and prospered there, but before long, they became a threat to the reigning Pharaoh. So, Pharaoh forced them into slavery. He hoped to break their backs, but they continued to grow and prosper. So, he turned up the heat a little more. He commanded the Hebrew midwives to murder the newborn sons of the Hebrew women as they were giving birth.

When he discovered that he couldn’t rely on the midwives because they feared God more than him, he tried another approach. He told his people to stay on the lookout for Hebrew babies. If they saw one, they were to throw him in the Nile and watch him drown. It was during this reign of terror that Jochebed became pregnant with her third child. And the child in her womb would be fair game for any patriotic Egyptian in a bad mood.

Can you imagine living with such fear? When I think of the times in which Jochebed was called to be a mother, I think of some mothers today. I think of mothers in parts of Africa who face the very real prospect of having their son taken from their arms to be trained as child soldiers.

These are challenging days to be a mother in our world! Though no one threatens to kill or steal our babies in America, there are forces at work which threaten to drown our children. Kids might drown in the river of violence and promiscuity that is pouring out of the TV set every day. They can drown in a sea of confusion as the lines between right and wrong are blurred in our society. They can drown in a competitive culture that rewards performance above character. Every conscientious parent knows how dangerous it is to grow up in our world!

In the dangerous world in which she found herself, Jochebed stands out because she did what she could to save her child. Then, when she could do no more, she depended totally on the faithfulness of God. She was a model of faith.

Jochebed had a courageous faith

First of all, Jochebed’s faith was courageous. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says about Jochebed: “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.” (Hebrews 11:23) NKJV

Though the king said all the male Hebrew babies had to be thrown into the Nile, Jochebed and her husband disobeyed the king and hid Moses for three months. That takes courage! Imagine how hard it probably was to hide an infant. When my daughter was born, I was only 26-years-old. We didn’t quite know what to do with her! I remember those first few months, because she had a bad case of colic. We couldn’t have hidden her if we tried. She made too much noise! But somehow Jochebed succeeded in hiding Moses.

We often think of faith as passive—this whole idea of “let go and let God.” But real faith is an active thing. Faith sometimes calls us to do risky things. I think of mothers who have been unable to conceive but have seen that as an opportunity to adopt children who might otherwise have spent their lives in an orphanage. That’s a courageous act of faith.

I think of mothers who are married to unbelieving husbands but sometimes defy those husbands in order to expose their children to the truth of God’s Word. I think of mothers who stand up to a teenage son or daughter, saying no to something when all the other mothers say yes. I think of mothers who choose to give up a lucrative career so they can stay home with their children when everyone around them says that’s crazy.

What gives these mothers the courage to act in such a way is that they fear God more than they fear man. They want to please God more than they want to please their friends or their children or even their husbands. And they trust God. They trust that as they’re obedient to what he’s calling them to do in the face of threatening circumstances, he’ll take care of them and their child.
Did you notice that God is never mentioned once in this passage? Still, we know he’s at work. There are things mothers can do, but ultimately they have to leave it in God’s hands. That’s the hardest thing, isn’t it? Letting go? A mother’s love never changes, but parenthood is a constant process of letting go: letting your child make mistakes; letting your teenager learn some things the hard way; letting your adult child follow God’s call, even if it means he or she will live 1,000 miles away.

Mothers, take heart! He’ll use your courageous, sensible faith to accomplish his purposes. He’s working behind the scenes to accomplish his purpose in your children’s lives. He will use you, but it’s not all up to you.

A model mother teaches her child from their earliest years

2 Timothy 3:14-15 (KJV)

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Eunice did. Paul said Timothy’s mother had instructed him “from a child,” or since he was a child. This word “child” may refer to an infant as well as to an older child. It is not at all farfetched to say that, when Timothy was just a baby, before he was able to understand what she was saying, Eunice began to sing to him of Jesus and tell him how much Christ loved him. As a toddler, just learning to walk and talk, she taught young Timothy such truth as he was able to grasp—to love God, to honor and obey his parents, and to behave himself accordingly. Then according to Jewish custom, at age five he began his formal instruction in the sacred Scripture.

A child is never too little to learn. In fact, children learn even if their parents make no effort to teach them. A child learns what he lives with. Some children grow up to be quarrelsome because that is the atmosphere in their home. Others grow up to be critical, sneaky, and dishonest, and irresponsible for the same reason.

There is a popular notion that parents should not teach a child religious truth. Instead, so-called experts argue that a child should be left alone to make their own decision

One must ask, however, if these “experts” follow the same philosophy with respect to a child’s diet? Should a baby choose between eating dog food or baby food? What about clothing? Should a parent force a child to wear their raincoat on a rainy day, or let them catch a cold or worse if they choose to go without it? How about hygiene? What responsible parent lets their child choose whether to bathe or to brush their teeth? And what about school? Should a parent let their child sleep in on Monday morning because they do not want to go to school? Or to neglect their homework because they would rather play ball or watch the late, late, late show? Of course not!

Why then would one assert parental responsibility in health, education, and other areas of life, yet back away from exerting influence in the infinitely more important things of the spirit?

Is it well with your child?

Mother, is it well with your child? Answer honestly. Is your child saved? Many a mother fails to realize that their child may not be physically dead, but they are spiritually dead! Face the fact that your child will spend eternity without God unless they come to know Jesus.

Billy Graham once told a story about a young girl who lay in the hospital with a fatal illness. She was an only child, the idol of her parents. They had given her everything she had ever wanted. One day when the doctor was in to see her, the girl asked him point-blank: “Doctor, am I dying?” His silence sent a clear message.

Calling her mother to her side, the girl took her hand and said, “Mother, you taught me how to dress, how to flirt, how to dance, how to make small talk, how to play bridge, and how to smoke a cigarette and sip a cocktail. But you never taught me how to find God! Now I die without him.” Those were her last words. Her hand dropped to the bed, and she died!

A mother who teaches her child everything else but never introduces that child to God’s grace in Christ has failed her most important job. Is your child a Christian? Have you done everything you can to lead them to Jesus?

A godly mother with a big family lived in the country. Most of the time the children were outdoors, working or playing, checking in at mealtime, but soon off again at full speed. As twilight drew a curtain across the end of each day, she counted her kids. She could not rest until she knew all were home. “Are all the children in?” she asked over and again. As darkness grew, so did her anxiety. She went to the porch and rang a bell again and again. She could not rest until she knew all the children were safely home.

Mother, are all the children in? If not, it is time to ring the bell until they are all safe within! Sons and daughters grow up and move away. They have children of their own. Still across the years and over the miles, spreading to cover grandchildren and even great-grandchildren, the question echoes, “Are all the children in?”

Is your child serving Jesus and growing in the Lord? Or have they gone to the far country? Did you teach them to “live pure, speak truth, right wrong and follow Christ the King?” Did you teach them to read their Bible and pray every day? Did you set their feet on the road of obedience to the Lord Christ? Have you done your best to encourage your child to live for Jesus? There is no better day than today to get turn your child’s heart toward God and living for Christ. Is it well with your child? Answer honestly.

Mothers, your ultimate purpose is to foster a courageous, sensible faith that will instill in your children a knowledge of, a faith in, and a love for God who sees and knows your child’s deepest need for salvation and has decisively moved to accomplish it through the work of Jesus. But don’t worry—it’s not all up to you! God is partnering with you.