Written by Pamella Sevillano, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in João Pessoa, Brazil.
Have you ever thought about the love and care a mother has for her children?
If you’re a mother, you know what I’m talking about, and if you’re not, you can imagine it.
When we are expecting, we think about every detail for their arrival. Where their room is going to be, where they will sleep, what clothes they’re going to wear, and lots of other things.
When I start thinking about my experience as a mother, and the preparation for my kids' arrivals, I can imagine how God prepared everything for Jesus’ arrival here on earth. How He chose the way His Son would come to the world, how He chose Mary and Joseph as his parents, in what cultural and political context Jesus would come, and how He prepared just everything for His birth. God is a caring Father and we can see this clearly in Jesus’ earthly life.
Just like some of us mothers are always making sure our kids have the best opportunities for growth, always wondering if they are okay, if they are in good company, if they are eating well enough to be healthy. We can also see that as Jesus grew, God provided new paths and relationships that helped Him evolve in all phases of life.
Nothing compares to the love of God, but something similar is the love of a mother for her children.
Isaiah 49:15 says:
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!”
And the intense love God has for Jesus is the same love He has for us as His children.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 John 3:1)
Just as God loves us intensely and we love our children intensely, we also want our children to love us and the Lord. We want them to seek us in moments of happiness and sadness, of relief and distress, of peace and pain…the same way Jesus looked for the Father.
There are several examples of this in the Bible:
- After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. (Matt. 14:23a)
- Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)
And even in one of the most well-known times, when he went alone to the Mount of Olives and prayed:
- “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
We long to embrace our kids, care for them and love them. Jesus knew the power of God’s embrace, and He always made sure to seek it. The Lord’s embrace is transformative. Most of the time, life is still going to be hard (Jesus Himself still had to go through the cross), but the love and protection we receive when we submit ourselves to Him is healing, like a mother’s hug.
May we, as sons and daughters of God, never forget His love, care and protection. And know that He loves us unconditionally, as He loved Jesus His Son.
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