SHEPHERD TO SHEEP
SO YOU’RE NOT A MOTHER
(1 Sam 1:2) …Peninnah had children, but
Hannah had no children.
Mother’s Day
can be so hard on women who do not have children. You see, some women want kids but are not
able to and other women will choose not to be a mother. So when this special day comes around it can
kind of rub the woman the wrong way and for different reasons.
Let’s talk first
about the woman who is not able to get pregnant. Well, you just can’t read the Bible without
seeing the obvious in its beginning pages.
You see Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel childless. Later on you see Hannah and then when you
roll over into the New Testament you see Elizabeth right away. As you read their stories you find the
anguish that emerges: (Gen 30:1) Now when Rachel saw that she bore
Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me
children, or else I die!” (1 Sam 1:10) And
she (Hannah) was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in
anguish.
So what
happened to these women? They eventually
had babies and it was from God. Kind of
like what we have seen in the church today when couples come up for prayer who
are struggling with infertility. God has
answered prayer and so many “miracle babies” have been dedicated to the
Lord. It was truly a work of the
Lord. Others have had answered prayer
through medical help or by adoption. Whatever
way, that couple has received a bundle of blessings from above: (Psa
121:2) My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Other
couples have talked together and have decided to not have children. For whatever reason they just want it to be a
two-some and three’s a crowd. It kind of
reminds me of Aquila and Pricilla in the Bible.
They were a couple with no kids that were free do so much ministry and
to travel. Every time they pop up they
are doing something for the Lord and for God’s people. They helped the apostle Paul, were
influential in Apollos’ life, and even had a church in their house. But they sure couldn’t do that with children around! I remember the few years before Cheryl and I
had kids and how were able to jet around for the Lord and do so much. But when the kids were added the brakes came
on!
But there is
a stigma that the couple will have to work through. Especially when people who don’t mind their
own business ask you when you’re going to have kids. That can be annoying as well as upsetting
because some people just don’t get it. Children
are their life and they just can’t believe anyone can be happy without them. (Rom
14:5)…Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. (1 Cor 7:20) Let each one
remain in the same calling in which he was called.
So you’re
not a mother? That can be a good thing
or a hurtful thing. But whatever way it
is for you, remember God ordains our life and we have to follow that course and
trust His plan.
Louie
