God’s Love Compared to a Mother’s

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Barbara Harper

God has given us many pictures to help us understand how we are related to Him and how He cares for us.

Father/children: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1).
Bridegroom/bride: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).
Shepherd/sheep: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
Savior/sinners: “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14).
King/subjects: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).
Teacher/disciples: “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am” (John 13:13).
Master/servants: “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:15-16).
Relatives: “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35).
Friends: “You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:14-15).

Many passages could be shared for some of these categories: I tried to choose one representative verse for each.

Some of these apply specifically to Christ (Bridegroom), some to God the Father, some to both.

Some of these might seem to contradict each other. But none are meant to be exclusive of the others: each relationship has some facets of it that help us understand our relationship to God.

One we don’t often hear about is when God compares His love to a mother’s.

God is a spirit and thus is neither male nor female. The Bible speaks of Him with masculine pronouns. But we are made in His image, so it makes sense that He reflected aspects of His love in an earthly mother’s. Here are a few:

God comforts us like a mother comforts her child.

“For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:12-13).

God cares for us like a parent.

“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob, all who are left of my people. I have cared for you from the time you were born. I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you” (Isaiah 46:3-4). Although mothers aren’t mentioned specifically here, they do care for their children.

God draws us with love.

“I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; But they did not know that I healed them.I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them” (Hosea 11:3-4, NKJV).

God guides and bears us.

“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the Lord alone guided him” (Deuteronomy. 32:11-12).

God protects us.

Several times, Scripture uses the image of a hen gathering its chicks under its wings.

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, or in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge until the destroying storms pass by” (Psalm 57:1).

“The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” (Ruth 2:12).

“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings” (Psalm 17:8).

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37).

God yearns for us even in discipline.

“Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:20).

God will never forget or forsake us.

“But God’s people say, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a mother forget the baby she is nursing and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:14-15).

Commenting on the Isaiah 66 passage, Matthew Henry says, “As one whom his mother comforts, when he is sick or sore, or upon any account in sorrow, so will I comfort you; not only with the rational arguments which a prudent father uses, but with the tender affections and compassions of a loving mother, that bemoans her afflicted child when it has fallen and hurt itself, that she may quiet it and make it easy, or endeavours to pacify it after she has chidden it and fallen out with it.”

Perhaps you have not known the warmth and comfort of a mother’s love. Or perhaps your mother was not a good example of sacrificial love. David wrote, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in” Psalm 27:10. Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18).

Even if we haven’t had good parental examples, we know what a good parent is supposed to look like. No earthly parent is perfect. But God gave us a picture of parents’ love to give us some glimmer of what His love is like.

His love is perfect but patient, holy yet compassionate, correcting but gentle, kind and understanding. Let His love draw you to Himself.

My mother’s gentle love, my mother’s gentle love
Has taught me of God’s tender care, and turned my eyes above.
I’ll bless her all my days for all her gentle ways.
Oh, how I thank my Lord above for my mother’s gentle love.

— Ron Hamilton

As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you. Isaiah 66:13

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Here are some of the thought-provoking reads discovered this week:

Why Doesn’t God Make His Existence More Evident? HT to Challies. “God is not interested in merely proving His existence. But for those with eyes to see, and ears to hear, God has made Himself known. He has offered sufficient evidence for rational faith. The question is—Will we trust Him?“

Soft Discipleship Through Friendship, HT to Challies. “It wasn’t through formal, set up discipleship, but what I call ‘soft discipleship’ by my college roommates that I lived with for 3 years: Charissa, Lucy, and Julianne. They didn’t even know that they were discipling me, but because we shared a home together, I was able to see how they lived and walked with the Lord, and understand what it looks like and feels like to have intimacy with God.” I love that term.

How to Talk to Your Kids About Taylor Swift’s New Album, HT to Challies. I’m not familiar with most of her music, but I have been hearing lots about her new album. “It feels like I’m making a moral decision when I listen to her music. How will it affect my girls to hear and see a beautiful young woman sing about a lifestyle that isn’t only objectionable but is in outright defiance to God? Even though my daughters have had a strong Christian upbringing and hold their own personal convictions, will they be able to discern the subtle influences and outright lies they’ll be exposed to when listening to Swift’s music?”

Hospitality Toward the Indwelling God. “This indwelling is not something we earn, nor is it something we lose. It is a gift of grace, added on to the gracious gift of salvation. Still, it’s worth asking, how can I show hospitality to the God living within me? What kind of heart is He pleased to dwell in?”

Preaching Goliath’s Sword, HT to Challies. I’ve heard sermons like the one described–full of “conjecture, guesswork, and speculation,” but not accurately representing the passage. This was written for preachers, but I think it’s applicable to teachers, Bible study students, bloggers—anyone who shares truth from God’s Word.

A Mother’s Love: God’s Love on Display. “Throughout the Bible, God (Who is not human, so neither male nor female) consistently reveals Himself as Father rather than Mother, King rather than Queen, Shepherd rather than Shepherdess, and Husband rather than Wife. However, there are a few occasions when He reveals the greatness of His love by comparing Himself to a mother.”

This Piece of Land, HT to Challies. This is lovely writing. “But isn’t that the way of it? We all crouch down at every starting line, clueless as to what lies ahead. The unknowns start with our first cry and extend to every beginning to come: The turn of the tassel, a job acceptance, the walk down the aisle, two pink lines, or an empty home. What will come of our own piece of land called life? Like Abraham, we hold only a promise.”

A Time We Never Knew, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “I think there is something distinctly different and deserving of our attention about online forums filled with Zoomers wishing that they lived before social media. Wishing it didn’t exist. These are children grieving their youth while they are still children. These are teens mourning childhoods they wasted on the internet, writing laments such as “I know I’m still young (14F), and I have so many years to make up for that, but I can’t help but hate myself for those years I wasted doing nothing all day but go on my stupid phone.” I think this site is a secular resource, but this piece was quite thought-provoking.

Make the Internet Modest Again, HT to Challies. This has nothing to do with hemlines or necklines. “Constantly exposing ourselves online desensitizes us, making it difficult to honor the sacredness of our lives. Modesty may run counter to prevailing wisdom, but I believe it works for the good of my soul.”

How to Love Every Version of Your Wide. This almost made me teary. “I could share so many stories about all of the versions of me that Chad has dealt with through the years. But if I could tell husbands one thing about how to not just deal with your wife in all of her many forms, but to love her well, the way Christ loves the church as you are commanded, I would say this. To truly love all the versions of your wife, you have to develop endless amounts of grace.”

And just for fun: one of my youngest son’s favorite games when he was little was Guess Who? Each player has a tray of cards with people on them. Each player chooses one, and the other player has to guess which one the other chose by asking about clues on the cards (Does he have black hair? A red shirt? and so on). Well, I saw an ad on Instagram the other day for a Jane Austen “Guess Who?” game. I don’t know if there’s anyone I know in real life who would enjoy playing it with me. But perhaps some of you might know fellow Jane fans. (This is not an affiliate link. I just saw it and thought it was a neat idea.)

The Bible is not an end in itself,
but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God,
that they may enter into Him,
that they may delight in His Presence,
may taste and know the inner sweetness
of the very God Himself in the core and center of their well-being.

— A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God