Brave Mothers of the Bible

Posted on May 10, 2026 by Barbara Harper

It’s daunting to try to raise little humans. There’s no instruction manual. What works for one doesn’t always work for another.

We worry about their health, the possibility of getting hurt physically or mentally, whether they’ll make friends, the influence of bad friends, their character formation, their spiritual formation, their future spouses, their future work, our failures, and so much more.

We can draw inspiration from a few mothers in the Bible.

Eve is the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). We’re not told much about her everyday family life. How dismaying it must have been to navigate a world affected by sin, so different from the garden where she first came to life. How confusing to raise children with no other examples before her. How crushing when one son murdered the other.

When Eve’s first son was born, she said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” Then after Cain murdered Abel, and Seth was born, she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him” (Genesis 4:2, 25).

These two statements show me that she trusted God, depended on His help, and saw her children as gifts from Him. Eve knew God’s grace in forgiving her after she had miserably failed.

Some think that she might be referring to God’s promise of a coming redeemer at the birth of her first son. If so, she demonstrated faith that God would fulfill His word, even though the timing would be far different than what she thought.

Jochebed lived when the children of Israel were enslaved by Egypt. The Israelites had become so numerous that Pharaoh decreed all male babies should be thrown into the Nile River. Can you imagine being in that situation?

Somehow Jochebed managed to hide her pregnancy and newborn until he was three months old. The Bible says she saw he was a “fine child”–some translations say “beautiful” or “goodly.” The NLT says “a special baby.” Some commentators believe this means she saw something unique about Moses. Others think she was just a normal mother who was enamored by her beautiful new baby boy.

When Jochebed could hide her baby no longer, she technically obeyed Pharaoh: she put the baby in the Nile. But first she made a basket and waterproofed it before putting the baby in.

I’d always thought she did this at random, and Pharaoh’s daughter “just happened”–by the providence of God–to come along at the right time and take the baby home for her own. But one source I read said that Egyptian royalty would have had indoor bathing facilities. So Pharaoh’s daughter being in the Nile might not have been for the sake of hygiene, but rather a ritual bath. And Jochebed may have known she would be there.

Whichever way it happened, it took faith for Moses’ mother to send her baby off in a basket in the Nile River. What if it overturned? What if a crocodile found it first? What if the waterproofing didn’t hold?

God answered beyond Jochebed’s dreams. Not only was Moses safe, but the daughter of Pharaoh herself rescued him. And Jochebed herself got to nurse Moses, which meant in those days that she would have had him for another two to three years, at least. Little did she know how God would use her son in the future.

When people ask, “How can we raise children in such a world as we have today,” I think of Moses. God can keep our children safe in any kind of world. And He just might use them to help turn it around.

Hannah was infertile, which is a cause for grief to anyone desperately wanting a child. But in the culture of this time, having children was thought to be a sign of God’s favor. So not having children, and experiencing torment from her husband’s other wife, grieved Hannah.

Hannah’s husband didn’t seem to understand. “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:8).

So Hannah went to the temple and poured her heart out to the Lord. She prayed so fervently, Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk and rebuked her.

Hannah promised God that if He gave her a son, she would give him back to God. And when God gave her Samuel, she kept her vow and gave him to the Lord.

Sometimes those closest to us, and those who are supposed to help us, only cause more pain. But, like Hannah, we can pour our hearts out to the God who sees and understands.

Hannah also teaches us that our children are gifts of God and belong to Him.

Mary‘s motherhood was unique in many ways. An angel announced that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, the long-promised Messiah, while she was a virgin. She knew who He was, but she didn’t know how everything would work. She might not have understood that the cross was coming, though Simeon forewarned her that “a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Luke 2:22-35).

But she had to learn early on that Jesus must be “about His father’s business.” She must have delighted in His miracles, teaching, and followers. But she was likely confused when the religious crowd turned against Him.

God sometimes calls our children to hard things, for His glory and the good of others. We may not understand His leading, but we can trust Him.

An unnamed Syrophoenician woman asked Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter (Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30). Jesus’ initial negative answer to her is puzzling. Mark’s account says Jesus was in Gentile territory and didn’t want anyone to know, and one source says that’s why He seemed to put her off. Another source said the gospel was first shared with the Jews, and later came to the Gentiles. Though that’s true, Jesus healed other Gentiles. Many sources say He was testing her faith. But one said He was showcasing her faith. I think that might be the most accurate. Matthew’s account says the disciples wanted Jesus to send her away because she was crying after them. Maybe He wanted to show them that this woman they didn’t have time for, this woman they wanted to get rid of, had great faith despite many obstacles.

Though this woman was a Gentile, she addressed Jesus as the Son of David. The ESV Study Bible notes on Matthew’s account say that she evidently knew that through Abraham, “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). She was humble before Jesus, yet persistent.

What can we learn from these mothers?

Jesus provides grace for past sin and failures when we repent of them and believe in Him.
He is more than able to take care of our children.
We can pour out our hearts to Him.
He understands our deepest needs when no one else does.
He may call our children to difficult things, but His grace will be sufficient for them and for us.
Our circumstances may not always make sense. But we can cling to His Word in faith and hope.

Are you inspired by these or other Biblical mothers? Please feel free to share in the comments.

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

Laudable Linkage

Posted on May 9, 2026 by Barbara Harper

I have quite a few good links to share this week. I hope you’ll find some of them of interest.

What Biblical Women Reveal About the Journey To and Through Motherhood. “One seminar I would pay a small fortune to attend would be one on motherhood, led by the mothers in the Bible. I’m not sure if a week would be long enough to learn everything their stories teach us about mothering, about God, even about marriage, but I’d settle for a weekend.”

Don’t Let Her Die Before You Say This. A young believer asks John Piper how to minister to his dying, unbelieving mother. “The best thing I could do is to make the connection between your love for your mother and the love of Christ for you. It seems to me that you already have the right instincts for how to love her, because you say you’re going to stay by her and comfort her, and that you’ve tried to share the gospel with her. And I would urge simply that you keep on doing what you’re already doing, and that you see it as an expression of Christ’s love for you and through you to your mother.”

A Prayer for Graduation Day. A mother’s prayer amidst the mixed emotions when a child graduates.

Not Every Hurt Is Church Hurt: Discerning the Difference, HT to Challies. “Not every pain that happens in a church is ‘church hurt’ as we often frame it. Sometimes it is human sin, human immaturity, and human blindness. If we don’t learn to carefully separate those, we risk letting our wound reshape our entire view of God’s people.”

Your Body is a Temple, So Act, HT to Challies. “It’s one thing to read that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). It’s another thing entirely to believe it and live it. This is especially true in a culture that degrades the body, that consumes the body, that commodifies the body, that abuses the body, that teaches men that women’s bodies are there to be tortured for sexual gratification, that teaches women to torture their bodies for the male gaze, that teaches both sexes to give into their fleshly passions instead of developing chastity.”

What Changed When I Taught My Small Group Leaders to Slow Down. “The most important thing they can do for their group is not to have all the answers. It is to help people see what is on the page. If your group can learn to read carefully before they respond quickly, you have given them something that will shape them long after your group semester ends.”

Searching for a Sign, HT to Challies. “‘God, please give me a sign’, I said quietly, as I stepped outside. I was in the middle of a confusing situation. I didn’t know what to do, or how. I couldn’t see how anything could work out well. I wanted to know that God was near, and involved. I wanted to see a display of his care, and power. I’m not sure what kind of sign I was looking for, exactly.”

The Foundation of Christian Time Management. “Everyone has a motivation for getting stuff done, whether they can name it or not. For most of the world, it’s something like status, money, survival, or career advancement. But for the Christian, the motivation should be categorically different. In fact, if we miss this we are missing Christian productivity altogether. Our motivation is the foundation.”

From Friend to Friend, HT to Challies. “The gospel has always had a way of moving in the most beautiful and ordinary way. Indeed, it has crossed oceans, shaken cities, overturned temples, angered kings, outlived empires, and outburied its enemies. This is fascinating alone, but very often it has moved in the simplest way imaginable, from friend to friend, from brother to brother, from one ordinary conversation to another, from one man saying to another, with whatever mumbling, stumbling, and trembling he could manage, ‘I want to tell you about Christ.'”

5 Things We Lose When We Subtract Evangelism from the Christian Life. HT to Challies. “If we’re ever to overcome our fear of evangelism, not only must we love others more than ourselves, but we must also believe that evangelism’s benefits outweigh any risks involved. But what are the benefits associated with sharing the gospel? Rather, what might we lose if we subtract evangelism from our lives? Here are five things to consider.”

Peacemaker vs. Peacekeeper: Understanding the Biblical Difference. “When Jesus said peacemakers are blessed, He wasn’t calling us to avoid hard conversations. He was calling us to pursue true peace—even when it’s uncomfortable.”

Help Her Go: Why World Missions Needs Women, HT to Challies. “Ever since Mary Magdalene ran from the tomb to tell the disbelieving disciples, ‘He is risen!’ He is born again! God has used women — single and married — to take the good news of Christ’s resurrection to the ends of the earth. Sometimes, however, our sisters face greater difficulties finding acceptance, financial support, and even respect on their way to the field.”

So Much of Parenting Is Just This Simple Easy* Thing, HT to Challies. “So much of parenting is holding the balance, arms stretched across chasms. So much we don’t say;
so much we wish we had. So much I can’t change; probably a lot I should change if I knew better. Swallow my pride, swallow a million words, spare them the lecture and step into the gaping empty room of silence with head nods and ‘Tell me more.'”

More Than Wrinkles: 11 Blessings of Growing Older, HT to Challies. After reading a native post about aging, the author began to “think about what the blessings of aging could be, and also of what our biblical response must be. Is this just a cruel joke at end our life – that of getting old? Has God forsaken us who are over 60? No!!!”

Faith of our mothers, living still
In cradle song and bedtime prayer;
In nursery lore and fireside love,
Thy presence still pervades the air.
-From “Faith of Our Mothers”
by Arthur Bardwell Patten