The Ache of a Momma’s Heart
Recently I came across a verse that hit deeply and made me pause. The words were directed to Mary, the brand new mother of the infant Jesus, from Simeon, a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem, when he met and held the newborn Messiah.
“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (emphasis added) Luke 2:34-35
Simeon’s words were prophetic and held deep meaning as well as the promise of pain to a mother’s heart. “And a sword will pierce your own soul, too.” Can you imagine hearing that as you hold your week-old baby?
It was a harbinger of what Mary would face as the mother of the Messiah, destined to give His life on the cross, though she likely didn’t comprehend the devastating pain that would come. Jesus would be falsely accused, plotted against, betrayed, beaten, mocked, and then crucified. The many who swore their allegiance would turn away. Those that professed their love for Him would cool and grow indifferent. The sword that ultimately pierced His side would, in effect, pierce the very soul of the mother who loved Him beyond words, not just as her Son, but as her Savior and Lord. Pause for a moment and think about it. She would watch as her Son grew into manhood, into ministry, and into His role as Redeemer - the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8)
Mary didn’t know the resurrection would follow Jesus’ death, though He’d said as much. She only knew that her firstborn, the child of her heart and faith, was experiencing indescribable suffering. Imagine the torment of her heart. Imagine the deep ache and angst she carried as she watched Him endure. Imagine the crushed hopes and dreams. Mary could teach us a bit about being a mother. She endured in spite of the sword that pierced her very soul.
Here’s the thing. Mary knew she was the woman God chose to bring Jesus into this fallen world and that He wasn’t born for her alone. She was cognizant, from the start, that this child was chosen and holy. God had a purpose and plan. Mary might not have understood all that would unfold, but from the start, she believed and trusted God more than the voices and circumstances surrounding her.
It’s a good reminder. God chose us to be the parents of our children, whether by birth, adoption, or children of the heart. He ordained that relationship because it was His will and His plan. Nothing is by chance. Everything has a purpose. We know that with deep love, comes also the need for willingness to sacrifice, endure pain, suffer hardship, but also to delight in joy, and to accept the unexpected- both good and bad. God is Sovereign. Ultimately, as parents, we must also remember and be prepared that, “A sword will pierce your own soul, too.” Because loving another means enduring what may come and releasing our hopes and dreams for what God may design or allow. It can bring an ache that only the Lord can soothe.
The real question is, will we allow our deep ache to define us? Will we allow it to eclipse the Presence and power of the Lord in our own life? Mary didn’t. No, she trusted God fully, even when she didn’t understand. She stepped aside when it was time for Jesus’ ministry to begin. She didn’t demand that He remain at home. She didn’t try to engineer His next steps. She didn’t choose His friendships or His career path. She trusted God to guide His steps. She knew that He knew best and she was willing to trust Him and let Him have His way.
The wedding in Cana saw a shift in the mother-Son relationship. She stepped back and she encouraged others to do whatever Jesus told them to (John 2). We should take lessons from Mary. We need to encourage our children to do whatever Jesus tells them to and go where He leads…whether it keeps them close by or takes them around the world, whether it keeps them surrounded and safe or leaves them vulnerable and at risk in the path of danger. There is no better, or safer, place for our sons and daughters to be than in the will of the Lord, wherever that may be, whether in an office or in the line of duty. If we’re praying for a prodigal, we need to surrender them wholly to God, over and over, assuring our own aching heart that God is capable of saving them from their own rebellion and foolishness and that God must have His way because our way is limited and insufficient.
Godly parenting demands that we lean into and on the Lord, relying on His strength and guidance, otherwise we will crumble under the weight of what it requires from us. Consider this:
Mary trusted God more than she trusted her feelings.
She allowed God’s promises to assure her more than the circumstances surrounding her.
She believed God’s plan, though it may have been obscured, more than what she could see and experience around her.
She chose to find solace and comfort in God, even through the deepest, searing pain she knew as a mother, because she knew God was faithful and she trusted Him.
We don’t hear much about Mary after the crucifixion because, really, the story isn’t about her. She was God’s servant. She allowed herself to be used by God, placed in circumstances and surrounded by people who were all ordained to be part of Jesus’ story. And really, that’s our role in our children’s lives as well. We are here to guide, teach, support, and encourage them to follow Jesus. We are part of His story too, but we may need to step back and allow the Lord to do what He wills rather than engineer our own safe, successful outcome for our sons and daughters. It may not be safe. It may not be sweet. It may ask more of us that we are comfortable or willing to give. But here is the question, are we willing to trust the Lord? Are we willing to endure the sword to our soul in order to raise sons and daughters who give theirs to the Lord?
Let’s pray that the Lord uses that ache to pull us closer to Him, more fervent in prayer and more focused on eternal things.
“Oh, dear Father- the One who loves me more than I know, please soothe my aching heart today. I know that my aching heart is a symptom of my love for (name). But Lord, it can also be a result of a lack of trust. Lord, help me to surrender (name) to You and Your will. Give me confidence in Christ that wherever they go, whatever they do, they are not beyond Your protection and provision (Ps. 139). “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong and do not fear; your God will come,” Isa. 35:3-4a. I know You understand the ache of a parent’s heart, dear Lord, because You see your children in their foolishness and rebellion. You see them strut in pride and independence. You long to have a deep, abiding relationship with each of us. You know the ache, Lord. I pray that You would daily remind me when I feel the throb of Momma’s heart, that it be a reminder to get on my knees and talk with You. Lord, let it drive me to depend on You, lean into You, and trust You for (name)’s every moment, their protection and provision. Lord, help me to trust You more than my feelings that will lie, deceive, and distract me. Help me to cling to Your promises, not the hint of a changing tide or a glimmer of hope. Help me to trust Your plan and not engineer my own. Lord, help me to rest under the shadow of Your wings and find my safety in Your strong tower. You are The Almighty. You can do anything. I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. I lift (name) to You today and trust that You will work and accomplish Your will in their life for their good and for Your glory, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Pray without ceasing
What is Your Destiny?
Hosea 7:13-14 “Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak about me falsely. They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail on their beds. They slash themselves, appealing to their gods for grain and new wine, but they turn away from me.”
Hosea was God’s prophet to Israel, warning them of God’s judgment because of their unfaithfulness. God rebuked them because they strayed from His commands. Not only did they stray, but they betrayed Him with their words and actions and then, when life was difficult and painful and they suffered the consequences of their rebellion, they cried out to anyone but God, as if false gods could save them.
It doesn’t seem much has changed.
People today will look to anyone and anything but God for rescue.. Hard hearts refuse to submit. They don’t want to bend the knee to the Father, but they will sacrifice their well-being, their peace, their future, their relationships- everything is fair game when they’re in pursuit of their ‘salvation’....everything but bowing to Christ. They pursue other teachings, practices, people, yet they will not reach out to the Father for the free gift of salvation. Is it pride? “I need to earn it” or is it disbelief? “It’s got to be more complicated than that” or, perhaps it is a disdain for anything holy. Whatever the case, it boils down to deception and rebellion.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 also warns us of the danger of deception and of hardened hearts.. “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. How heartbreaking is that? The lifeline is there! The Rescuer is at-the-ready, but they refuse, sealing their condemnation and cutting themselves off from an eternity of blessing and an inheritance in the Kingdom.
Friends, this deception is here, now, and more is coming. The Enemy wants us to turn our faces away from the Lord and wallow in our misery. He delights in hearing us cry out in desperation, wailing for relief and he’s elated if we harden our hearts and refuse His rescue. This should drive us to our knees for our sons and daughters, especially if they do not know the Lord.
Finally, Revelation 16:8-10 paints a vivid picture of just how resolute these hardened hearts are. “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.” - It’s a horrific picture and so heartbreaking, because all they would need to do is cry out to Jesus and be saved, yet they refuse.
As Hosea 7 says, God longs to redeem them. 2 Peter 3:9 also says “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” God is holding back His hand. He’s delaying His judgement. He doesn’t want anyone to suffer eternal punishment, but wants all to come to repentance. Can we pray today for those family members who don’t know the Lord? Pray for softened hearts willing to repent and follow Christ and eyes that clearly see God’s salvation and desire it more than anything this world could offer. There is so much at stake, friends. Pray and pray some more.
Maybe you’re reading this and you don’t have assurance of where you will spend eternity. Do you want to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savoir? Do you want freedom from sin and a peace that passes understanding?
We are all sinners. Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” There is no way we could ever make ourselves worthy of Him.
Our deserved punishment is eternal death, separated from God. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Oh, but we don’t have to be eternally condemned, because Jesus paid the price for our sin, He covered our debt when He died on the cross. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
And God says to us, that if we” confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved.” Romans 10:9
The lifeline is there and along with it forgiveness of all you’ve ever done, redemption from the fate you thought you were destined to and justification in the eyes of God, because when He looks at you, He sees the blood of Jesus that’s washed you clean. You have a hope and a future. You’re a child of God!!
If you confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, would you share with us? Send a message or reply to this post. We would love to pray for you as you begin your life with Jesus Christ!
Pray without ceasing.