A Mother After God's Own Heart

I was told a very wise statement this past week from an incredibly wise woman. She stated: Just because a woman has a baby does not make them a mother. The author of that quote was my own mother. My friends, it takes a woman who has a heart for God that makes the very best mothers.

Before I get into the actual lesson for today, let me share some unique insights, some of which I’ve personally heard. Nearly everyone would agree that much of what we know, we’ve learned in one way or another from our mothers. Sometimes, the best way to make this type of point is through humor. Please don’t take any of this personally, it’s meant to be light-hearted, as we reflect on some of those things we’ve learned from our mothers.

Logic—if you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can’t go to the store with me.

Medicine—If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they’re going to freeze that way.

Thinking ahead—If you don’t pass your spelling test, you’ll never get a good job.

ESP—Put your sweater on; don’t you think that I know when you’re cold.

Meeting a challenge—What were you thinking? Answer when when I talk to you . . . Don’t talk back to me!

Humor—When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.

Becoming an adult—If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.

Genetics—You are just like your father!

Heritage—Do you think you were born in a barn?

Wisdom of age—When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.

Anticipation—Just wait until your father gets home.

Receiving—You are going to get it when we get home.

Justice—One day you will have children, and I hope they turn out just like YOU . . . than you’ll see what it’s like.

Now we know doesn’t just reflect mothers, but often both parents. As we think back to our childhood, then as we’ve become the parents, we can relate to a few of those life lessons.

As times change rapidly each passing day, there is a cry for some form of stability. Even motherhood has fallen on difficult times. Hollywood makes fun of mothers. The world teaches that children can and should ridicule their mothers. We even see women of a very liberal element of politics who have recently attacked even the mothers who stay at home as being terrorists, manipulating the minds of their children.

The reality is that children need mothers who are invested in their lives. Being a mother is a high calling; not an accident. Mothers can be an incredible influence upon their children, whether it is for good or evil. Mothers have been a stabilizing force in the home for many years in the shaping of history.

In the 1980s, the university of Michigan conducted a survey of young women between 11-18 years of age, asking them about their personal and social ambitions. Eighty person expressed a desire to be like their mothers.

Napoleon stated, Let France have good mothers and she is bound to have good sons.

Susannah Wesley was a great Christian mothers. Though she had 19 children, she gave each child an hour of religious instruction each week. One son, John Wesley, because a famous preacher. Another son, Charles Wesley, was one of the most prolific hymn writers the church has ever known.

In the Old Testament, 1 Samuel 1, we see a mother after God’s own heart. Hannah lived in a time, when, as a nation, Israel was in terrible shape. The conditions were similar to today, in our own nation. Israel needed a spiritual rebirth.

Hannah came from a small town called Ramathaim. The name was probably bigger than the town. In this town, God had a mother who would give God a servant. It’s interesting how God uses small things in this world to accomplish His big purposes.

I’d like for us to study three specific areas as we look at a Mother after God’s own heart.

Her Prayer

Hannah was a praying woman, even before having a child. She was a praying woman even though her life was not all that pleasant.

Why would I suggest that her life was not all that pleasant? First, she was a Hebrew woman without a child. Thus, she was looked down upon by her peers and the community, as a whole. Many would have assumed that God was punishing her.

Secondly, her home was not exactly peaceful. Verse 2 tells us that her husband, Elkanah, had two wives. Thus, he was not living according to God’s principles. He was also part of the Levitical priestly line. This gives even more insight into how Isreal needed revival. And even though God permitted polygamy, it was not His intent. Everything else we read about Elkanah leads us to believe that overall, he was a godly man. Yet, there was division in the household. On top of that, verse 6 shows us that Hannah was persecuted and picked on by the other wife.

Yet, we see that Hannah prayed. In fact, she was extremely earnest in her prayers. It’s almost like the old gospel song says, Where could I go, but to the Lord? Hannah was so deeply troubled that she would not eat. As we study the entire context of this story, her sorrow was not so much on being picked on by the other wife, but that she had no son.

As she was earnestly praying to the Lord, her prayers were so intense that Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk. This is somewhat disturbing that Eli was so harsh, since we know that his own two sons were blatantly even and were called sons of Satan or Belial. She was not concerned about what she would look like or what others thought of her. She was in deep prayerful communion with the Lord. She didn’t mope and throw her hands in the air because of the nation’s spiritual bankruptcy, nor the unfairness she may have felt about her own personal life; she prayed to the One Who could move hearts and open wombs.

Mothers, let me encourage you to never allow circumstances nor what’s going on all around you to dictate your life. Pray earnestly. Present everything to God, because, as Peter reminds us, He cares for you.

Let’s go on and see just how serious Hannah was in her prayers.

Her Promise

1 Samuel 1:11 (NASB95)

She made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”

As we read from this verse, not only did Hannah desire a son, but her desire was that this son would be one who she could dedicate back to God for service. How amazing! With the eyes of faith, she was able to see what God could do with a small child dedicated to Him. None of us knows God’s plans for us, much less that of our children. But there is great comfort and releasing our children into God’s hands and let Him work out His perfect plan for them.

Hannah’s desire was not for her own glory. She was not wanting to parade around the small community and point out that she was no longer to be pitied or looked at in a condescending way. Hannah was not even concerned about showing off to the other wife, much less getting even with her. Hannah’s desire was to bring glory to God. This child was to be God’s child, not hers. And her commitment was not for just a short time frame, but it was for life.

I understand a mother’s incredibly deep love and concern for her children. But a mother must show complete trust in God and be willing to recognize that children are on loan to us to raise for the glory of God.

Now we go on to see her follow-through on her promise.

Her Payment

A mother after God’s own heart is one who knows the full meaning of sacrifice. It was a sacrifice for Hannah to pray to the Lord. After all, she was barren and she knew that God is the only One Who could open the womb. She could have been extremely bitter towards God, yet we see no evidence of that.

It was a great sacrifice for her to promise her son to the Lord. Yet, that wasn’t the greatest sacrifice. You see, promises are easy to make. It’s the fulfilling of our promises that can sometimes be a challenge. I believe that the greatest sacrifice came when she had to make payment on her vow.

Just imagine how great Hannah’s joy must have been when she gave birth to this son. Mothers, you know that taking care of a little baby is a great task, which can seem quite burdensome at times; yet, you still know the joy that is yours while you’re doing this. While all the time she spent nurturing and taking care of her child was filled with great joy, she lived daily with the knowledge that one day she would have to make the payment on her promise to God.

Then comes that big day. 1 Samuel 1.24 “Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, although the child was young.”

We’re told that she took Samuel to the tabernacle when he was weaned. Please understand that we tend to read the Bible through our Western and North American eyes. Baby formula was not part of Old Testament mothering. Strict scheduling as to times for the baby to eat and how many months of nursing was necessary were not part of the tradition then. In the Near East, weaning a child could take place around 3 years of age. So, it helps us to understand that Samuel would have been approximately 3 years of age. That made it even harder for Hannah, as she had all that time of special bonding. We all know that the closer we are to someone, the greater the bond we have, the more difficult it is to part ways. Multiply that by being a mother, and you get a glimpse as to how hard this must have been.

Yet, we see Hannah’s heart in 1 Samuel 1.27-28 “For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. “So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.” What an inspiration to all of us, but especially to mothers everywhere.

Ponderings

What a beautiful picture of a mother after God’s own heart! She was totally yielded to God, giving her son to the Lord. Amazingly, we have seen that Hannah was truly a woman of prayer. Later on, we recognize that Samuel had as one of his more well-known traits, that he was a man of deep prayer.

What an amazing picture of God’s ways! God used this woman’s barrenness, her family problems, all her heartaches to cause her to go to her knees in prayer. Plus, she chose to seek God’s will completely. As a result, He used her to bless an entire nation.

Mothers, I want to encourage you to Be a mother after God’s own heart. Choose to be fully committed to God and His ways. Be willing to dedicate your children to God, knowing that God might even take them away from you to bring glory to Himself. Continually seek God’s will for your children, even though it may mean something other than what you had considered in your own mind. And be assured and encouraged that God’s will and His ways are always best.

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