I have been told that being a mom really changes things. And the more children you have the greater the changes. In fact I have heard that there is an evolution involved.
For example, you begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your doctor confirms you are pregnant. You pore over baby- name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favorites. You practice your breathing religiously in anticipation of delivery. You pre-wash your newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau. At the first sign of distress-- a whimper, a frown -- you pick up the baby. You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour. The first time you leave the baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times. You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
When the 2nd pregnancy occurs, you wear your regular clothes as long as possible. As for names, just pick some relative and go with it. You don’t practice breathing because it didn’t do much for you last time. When the newborn gets home you just keep check that the clothes are clean and throw out the one with the darkest stains. You don’t pick up the newborn until the cries threaten to wake up your first born. When you have time you take your newborn to Baby Gymnastics and that’s about it. When it’s time to go out, you leave a number on the refrigerator where you can be reached. At home, you spend a lot of time making sure that the older sibling isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
Now you’re pregnant with the third child and you think: How did this happen?” Your maternity clothes are your regular clothes. You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger points. You demand an epidural in your 8th month. As far as clothes, boys can wear pink, can’t they? If the newborn cries you have taught your 3 year old to rewind the mechanical swing. You take your newborn to the supermarket and dry cleaners. You tell your sitter to call you only if blood is involved. You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
Seriously, being a mom is a great responsibility. The role seems to change each decade. Women have been forced into the work place in higher numbers causing them to try to balance their role as income earner and mom. Your children face greater challenges now than those of past decades. The world of technology has opened forbidden doors for many of our children. And with that come greater temptations and opportunities to act on those temptations. At times it may seem that the enemy is slowly taking away your child and you feel powerless. In fact sometimes it is as if our children have become little devils. But I assure you that’s not the case.
There is a story of a woman who is battling against satan for the very life of her daughter. We find this story in Matt. 15. Let’s begin reading with vs. 21
"Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”
It’s important that we know about this woman. Jesus is in an area populated by Canaanites. These people were considered cursed of God
Genesis 9:22-25 "Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked.
When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: “May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”
Not only was this woman a Canaanite she was from a region that had been cursed by God.
Isaiah 23:8-9 "Who has brought this disaster on Tyre,
that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes,
her merchants were nobles. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility."
As you can see in the eyes of the Jewish people she would have been considered quite the outcast. But she had heard about Jesus. She knew He was the Jewish Messiah. She knew He was a miracle worker. She knew He had control over demons. She knew He was her only hope. She knew He would answer her request. So what did Jesus do?
Matthew 15:23 "But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”
He ignored her. He kept silent. Why? There have been all sorts of speculation. He was teaching the crowd about prejudice. He was stunned speechless about her boldness. Let me throw one in. He was doing what the crowd and this mom expected him to do, be silent.
Have you ever prayed for something but you listen to a voice deep inside that says “God will never answer that request.”? We feel undeserving. We think that some past sin has blocked out any chances of our request being heard much less acted upon. We are surrounded by people who will tell us that what we expect of God in unreasonable, He just doesn’t do things that way. She knew she was taking a huge risk of being rejected but it was worth the try. And she got what she expected.
Most of us would have walked away, thinking a lot less of Jesus. Perhaps she had those thoughts. But she persisted and was next rejected by his followers. “Tell her to go away. She’s bothering us----” We as Christians are guilty of this quite often. We see a mom in her struggles and think such thoughts as “She brought this on herself. She shouldn’t have let things get so out of control. It’s gone to far. Even prayer can’t help this situation.”
So we avoid this mom as much as we can.
Most of us would walk away from this rejection from his followers, thinking a lot less of his teachings. But her pleadings finally got a response from Jesus.
Matthew 15:24 "Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
“I’m sorry, but you are in the wrong group. I have come for sheep and you are not a sheep.” If she knew He was the Messiah, than she knew that He was the promised and expected deliverer of the Jewish people. As a Gentile she had no deliverer. He wanted to remind her of this prophetic fact.
Most of us would walk away after being rejected as an outsider thinking a lot less of his acceptance. But the fact that He acknowledged her gave her hope. And her response was overwhelming.
Matthew 15:25 "But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”
In spite of his silence, she worshiped him. In spite of the rejection by his follower, she worshiped him. In spite of his rejection of her due to her social status, she worshiped him. Do we? When He doesn’t answer, do we worship him? We when feel rejected, do we worship him?
She did and she pleaded, “Help me”. She doesn’t pray for her daughter. She doesn’t pray for the circumstances. She prays to be helped. Maybe she feels that this demonic influence on her daughter will not be removed. If Jesus is not going to help her daughter than her plea becomes “Help me.” The day will come or has come when you as a mom have done all you could for your child and now they are making their own decisions. You make not like them or agree with them but you can’t change them. And all you can do is pray “Lord, help me.” You may need to ask for patience. You may need to ask for wisdom. You may need to ask for a gentle spirit. Maybe you just need to feel his presence and know He is in control.
Let’s continue,
Matthew 15:26 "Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
Once again He reminds her of his purpose, “to help God’s lost sheep.” And He informs her that she is not a sheep but rather a dog. He points out to her that she is not one of God’s children but rather one of his pets. He is telling her that the time for her needs to be met has not come yet. First He had to meet the needs of the Jewish people. “Sorry. I would like to help you. But you are a part of the wrong group, living at the wrong time.”
How many rejections can one person take? How much humiliation can one person go through before they walk away? But through all this, she knows He is right.
Matthew 15:27 "She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”
Would you settle for scraps? Would you be willing to take what blessings Jesus offers you? Would you be happy with partially answered prayers? Remember, it would seem that this mom has accepted the possibility that her daughter would not be delivered. All she is asking for now is help in dealing with the situation. She knew before she arrived of the risk of rejection. She knew she did not deserve his response. She confesses that compared to the “sheep” of Israel, she is a dog. But she also knew that a scrap from the table would be better than nothing. And she would be content with that. And in her contentment came her answer.
Matthew 15:28 “Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed."
From a dog to a dear woman, from rejection to granted request, she left rejoicing. But I must ponder about this as I often do. I wonder as she was heading home if she praised Jesus for granting her request, not realizing He had done more than that. I wonder how she felt when she got home and found her daughter healed.
So what can we learn from this devoted mom about petitioning God on behalf of our children?
1) Pray with faith; She knew who He was. She called Jesus by his title. Recognize who He is. He is your redeemer, your savior. Come to God in his name. Pray to the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent him to comfort us so we need to call out to him.
2) Pray with modesty; She understood her role as a Gentile. Recognize that you have no right to make demands of Jesus. We are to realize our relationship with him is not a “vending machine” type relationship where we deposit our holiness and good deeds and expect him to respond accordingly.
3) Pray with confidence; Even though she was a Gentile, she expected to be heard by him. How much more as his child can we expect to be heard?
4) Pray with reverence; Even though rejected she knelt on her knees and prayed. Spend time now on your knees before God praying intercessory prayers for your child.
5) Pray with resignation; She wanted her daughter healed but if nothing else she wanted help to deal with her daughter. As you pray for your child ask God to do his will in their life even if it supersedes what you want.
6) Pray with perseverance; Even though rejected she continued to make her petition known. Use the push method; Pray Until Something Happens.
7) Pray with prudence; She agrees with Jesus that she is a dog but reasons with him that even a dog deserves crumbs, an argument that he can argue against. In a gentile way, remind God of his promises found in his Word find scriptures that comfort you in your challenge of being a mom and pray them to him daily as a testimony to your faith.
Being a mom is tough at times. Often the pain doesn’t end in the delivery room. But seek Jesus now if their young in giving you wisdom to be that Godly mom. Seek Jesus now if their older and have wondered away from the faith or are in dangerous territory. Seek Jesus now if you are not a mom yet in giving you a child that will be devoted to his service.
I would like to leave you with this story;
When God Created Mothers . . .
When the good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of "overtime" when the angel appeared and said, "You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."
And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order? --
She has to be completely washable, but not plastic; Have 180 moveable parts . . . all replaceable; Run on black coffee and leftovers; Have a lap that disappears when she stands up; A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair; And six pairs of hands...
The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands . . . no way."
"It’s not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord. "It’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."
"That’s on the standard model?" asked the angel.
The Lord nodded.
"One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ’What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ’I understand and I love you’ without so much as uttering a word."
"Lord," said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, "Come to bed. You can finish tomorrow . . ."
"I can’t," said the Lord, "I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick . . . can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger . . . and can get a nine year-old to stand under a shower."
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It’s too soft," she sighed.
"But tough!" said The Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure."
The angel asked, "Can it think?"
"Not only think, but it can reason and compromise," said The Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "There’s a leak," she pronounced. "I told you were trying to put too much into this model."
"It’s not a leak," said the Lord, "It’s a tear."
"What’s it for?" asked the angel.
"It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride," The Lord replied.
"You are a genius," said the angel.
The Lord looked somber.
"I didn’t put it there," he said.
Anonymous
We love you, moms.
