A wise mum trusts in God

Before I became a mum, I imagined that I would be a calm and serene mother. I thought I would be a perfect mother in every way – wonderful relationships with my kids, perfectly behaved children, and a perfect marriage. I didn’t think I would be working in paid employment. I imagined that each day I would cook choc-chip cookies or blueberry muffins and my children would come home from school to the aroma of these freshly baked goodies. We would sit around the table and chat peacefully about our day.

This picture couldn’t be further from the reality of my life. I discovered I am far from a perfect mother, I have far from perfect children, and my marriage is certainly not perfect. Most days, I could tell myself I am a complete failure.

On reaching this dismal realisation, I started to ask the question, "what does God expect of me as a mum, as a Christian mum?".  Each of you could ask the same question. What does God expect or demand of you as mothers – as Christian mothers?

After much thought, I came up with a few ideas of what could characterise our lives as Christian mothers. The first thought was 'a wise mum trusts in God'.

A wise mum trusts in God

It is so easy to be anxious about our children. We can fill our minds with much fret:

• Will they succeed academically?
• Will they be liked by others and make friends?
• Will they hold on to the Christian faith?
• Will they develop qualities of gentleness, kindness and goodness? 
• Will they go to sleep tonight and stay asleep, not waking with a bad dream? 
• Will they ever stop driving me crazy? 
• Can we trust God with all these anxious thoughts?

A wise mum is able to silence these anxious thoughts. and have a deep firm trust in her God. She reminds herself constantly that God is sovereign and totally trustworthy.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The wise woman trusts God. We have a wonderful picture of a wise woman in the book of Proverbs in Chapter 31. This woman is a wife and a mother. She is the epitome of a wise woman. The quality she is most praised for is that she is a woman who “fears the Lord”. Why does she fear Him? Because she knows that He is the sovereign God, completely in control of all that happens in life. She lives her life as if this is a reality.

A prayer for mums

Here's a prayer mothers might want to make their own, based on Psalm 73:23-26:

“Loving heavenly Father, thank you for the privilege of being a mother. Thank you for my children. I want to thank you that you are my sovereign God and that you are totally trustworthy – I can entrust my children to your tender and loving care. There are so many things I want to fix and control, but I can’t. I commit my heart to you and ask that you will help me be a mum who simply trusts you. Thank you that you are always with me, and you are always with my children. Even when I feel like I have nothing to give my children, I know you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever – I cast myself into your hands, knowing you are holding me by my right hand, you guide me with your counsel and afterwards you will take me into glory. Amen.” 

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