Mother’s Day: 5 women
In this message, Pastor Shane looks at 5 women in scripture, and how they responded to the challenges they faced in motherhood. Click here for the recording of this 5/11/25 Service, and you can fast-forward to 28:33 to get to the start of the sermon.
Introduction
Poets, philosophers and preachers have tried to do justice to womanhood in general, and motherhood in particular, for thousands of years
I take my yearly attempt at it again today
I realize that my attempt is feeble at best
I’m moving away from an expository message, to look at a collage of women in scripture
I trust this will resonate with mothers, and women in general
1- Eve- the mother who buried a child
Gen 4.8- Cain talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Cain the firstborn, was a farmer, and abel, a herdsman
The Lord accepted Abel’s offering, and rejected Cain’s
The result…
The result for Cain? Cain was cursed to be a wanderer and a drifter, 4.14
The result for Eve? She lost not one son but two
The mother who loses a child, no matter what age, knows a pain that never goes away- I saw it in my own mother
What do you do?- you medicate with honest prayer, leaning into Scripture, possible therapy, and time
2- Sarah- the mother who tired of waiting
Gen 18.14 Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.
God has called most people to marry, and most couples to parenthood; those who don’t have that call should be respected
In our impatience, we can complicate things
The result?
Abraham/Sarah in their impatience parented a line of offspring who to this day are in opposition to his original plan
God honored his promise, which he always does
Abraham lived with the results of two decisions- god’s, and theirs
Decisions have consequences
3- mrs. Manoah- the mother who bore a disappointing child
Judges 13.3- but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4And now, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. 5 For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”
The result?
She who was barren was promised a son, to be raised as a nazirite, from the womb; no fruit of the vine, no hair cutting, no exposure to the dead
He was to help deliver Israel from the Philistines
Samson grew to be a wild child, never fully keeping his vows
Mothers keeping their vows do not assure children who keep theirs- at some point, give them to God
4- hannah- the mother who gave up her son
1 Sam 1.27 For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my request which I asked of Him. 28 So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.”
Yet another barren woman, who promises her son to God as a nazirite
The result?
She makes good on her promise, and delivers him to the Lord’s house in shiloh
There he serves under Eli, and later is called to be a prophet to Israel
He serves as a bridge between the judges, and the kings
He lives to see the rise of both Saul and David
Samuel was a transition person, just the right person, at just the right place, at just the right time
5- Bathsheba; the mother forced upon
2 Sam 11.1 Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they brought destruction on the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem.
The story starts here, where David is not supposed to be
“Oh be careful little feet, where you…”
The result?
David can’t sleep, and finds himself on the palace roof, where he sees bathsheba bathing
He sends for her, impregnates her, murders her husband, marries her, and sees the child, a boy, die at birth
Bathsheba had no control over this
She is minding her own business, and ends up burying a husband, and then a son, and forced into a marriage for which she did not ask- she became solomon’s mother
Applying this to your life
The lord sees the pain of the mother who buries a child
The lord understands the impatience of the mother who tires of waiting
The Lord sees the mother who bears a disappointing child
The lord sees the selflessness of the mother who gives her child to something greater
The lord sees the woman forced into circumstances over which she has no control
