Don’t Be A Sorrow to Your Mother

“¹The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a glad father,

but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.”

— Proverbs 10:1 (ESV)

I know that I have disappointed my mother on a number of occasions. The thing is, that in the moment, I was only thinking of myself and did not notice until some time later when I looked back. What a difficult time those were for me. There is nothing like having your mother look at you with eyes of disappointment. I had been selfish and did not think before acting. I had overlooked the impact of my actions on others.

I want to be clear, this is not about being shamed into feeling bad about the decisions made that better your family. Like deciding to move 1500 miles from my mother with my family for a career promotion. My mother was not excited about that one, but it was not a foolish move so there was no shame in it. Even Jesus had a moment that brought fear to His mother when she could not find Him as He was teaching in the temple as a child.

It is about making decisions with thought and understanding. Not making them based on emotion and chasing unrealistic fantasy. Oh sure, we should be encouraged to dream, but sinking all of your life into the fantasy of being “king of the realm” is not a realistic dream. It is there that the sorrow felt by a mother is realized.

Mothers love their sons and daughters. They may not show it in the way that we want sometimes. They may not show it at all and frankly it may have wavered and disappeared entirely, but at some point, the love was there.

By and large, mothers want to see us as successful. That success is seen from their perspective and when they do not see it, they feel sorrow. It is not up to us to do things for our mothers, but it is up to us to help them see things from our side so that they will be able to turn those frowns upside down and feel joy once again.

Our move 1500 miles away, led to an opportunity for my mother to experience something that she really only dreamed of before. And, we did move back closer and are now only about 200 miles away, close enough for a day trip. All in all the move that was disappointing turned to be a move that drove joy. And, remember the fear Jesus’ mother experienced when she could not find Him, imagine the joy in her heart when she did and realized that He was fulfilling His call.

We are charged to do the work of Christ, wherever that work may take us. And when we are focused there, we will bring the joy to our mother. When we are doing the foolish thing, that will bring the sorrow.

What are you out there doing that your mother is watching? Are you doing the foolish thing that brings sorrow to her heart? What if you did what is right by God and guided your mother’s understanding of it to bring joy to her heart?

Mothers for All

This morning I was reminded that it is not just the biological mothers who make an impact on the children of the world. It is those mothers out there that place themselves in the place of caregiver to the children.

“⁹He gives the barren woman a home,

making her the joyous mother of children.

Praise the Lord!”

— Psalm 113:9 (ESV)

When I read this verse I thought of those little old ladies in the neighborhood who were always entertaining the kids. I also thought of my grandmother, and where she was not barren and did have children of her own, it was later when she was the caregiver of my nephew for the first few years of his life. And I thought of the ladies that taught in Sunday school and made such an impact on the lives of the children there on Sunday mornings and anytime she interacted with those children. I thought of Lori, my wife, as she teaches and interacts with the children in her classes and in the school who later in life bring smiles to her face when they see her and tell her of all they have accomplished.

The LORD’s design was for man to care for the world, as noted in Genesis in the creation. And God created Eve to be the mother of the world. Women are precious to the growth and development of the world. Even when they have not been blessed with biological children, the LORD has blessed them with motherhood of those in need.

We all are in need of mothers. Some of us have biological mothers who were/are the caregivers in our lives. Some of us have biological mothers who were/are not caregivers and may not be the ones to impact us positively. Some of us have those surrogate mothers in our lives who love us and care for us as a mother would/should. In either of these cases, God has provided a mother for us that we can count as our own. There are mothers for all of us and all of them have children they can/will bring joy.

Who is your mother? Are you looking to only the biological mother to bring you joy? What if you recall the one mother who impacted your life in a joyous manner?

Born into Sin, Pray to Overcome

“⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

— Psalm 51:5 (ESV)

This morning began a little sobering as I was reading. I am in Psalm 51 as I continue my study of the word “mother”. The passage is titled, “Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God”. And as I read the above verse, it is clear to me that asking God for a clean heart is something I have to remember.

You see, I was born a sinner and need the grace of God in my life just as David did. He understood that no matter where we are now, we came from sin and will always be sinners and need the grace of God to be cleansed. I have to remember to ask to be cleaned every day. And how do I do that, but pray for it and work to live it out every day.

My mother is a very God fearing Christian woman and therefore, I could feel that I was clean from the start of my life. Now where until I understood the difference of right and wrong, I would be accepted by God into the Kingdom of Heaven. But knowing that I would someday grow to know, I was on my way to sin and would need God’s salvation to overcome.

I did accept salvation that was given freely to me and for that all my sins have been washed away. Yet, even as they have been washed away, and will continually be washed away, I still have the responsibility to thank God for that His forgiveness and ask to be forgiven each and every day.

I am still and will always be a sinner. I was born into it. I cannot forget it. But, I was blessed with the way out of payment for my sin, death. Thanks to Jesus for accepting to pay for me. I owe Him all and yet all He wants is my love for Him and to spread the gospel that I received to all of those I interact.

I love my mother and am thankful for her love in my life. She however delivered me into sin and could not save me from the evil one. That was left to the Savior, Jesus who is my redeemer. I am still a sinner, yet through prayer and thanks for salvation and confession coupled with forgiveness of sin I have been given new life in Christ.

What is your view of sin in your life? Were you even aware that you were born into sin? What if you accepted the salvation provided by God to overcome that sin and be give the new life in Christ?

Revisit the Ten Commandments

As a corporate trainer and my wife as a teacher, we understand the importance of having rules and setting expectations. People want order and structure to understand what they can and cannot do. Even those who do not follow the rules want them so that they understand what it is they are working toward, in their case, breaking those rules. In our roles as educators, we often have to revisit the rules and expectations to bring things back in line. We do not come back to the rules and expectations to rule over others, but to ensure that we are able to progress in an orderly, efficient, and effective manner.

God gave us rules and expectations in the form of the Ten Commandments. And if you remember, He gave them directly to the people and did not work through a proxy (Moses or Aaron) that was there as the leaders of the people at the time. God set forth what and how we were to act daily as people.

This morning, I am reading in Deuteronomy in chapter 5 which leads with the topic of the Ten Commandments. Here, Moses is revisiting and reminding the people of the rules and expectations that were given to them by God directly.

“¹And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them…⁴The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, ⁵while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said: ⁶”I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”’” – Deuteronomy 5:1,&4-6 (ESV)

Often, we just keep moving forward and forget all that we have learned in the interest of learning more. Where that is not a bad approach to growth and improvement, it is also important to remember that which we have already learned. As a history teacher, my wife Lori makes it a point to remind that we learn from history so as not to repeat it, or to repeat those things that worked. The rules and expectations that are in place are there for the same purpose.

God’s rules and expectations, the Ten Commandments, were put in place to give us guidance into how to progress through this world in the interest of doing the Will of God. They are set up as the framework of a society that loves the LORD and will do all to advance Him throughout the rest of the world. It is important to revisit these rules and expectations, the Ten Commandments from time to time to ensure that we are indeed following the framework that was laid out for us from the very beginning.

What rules and expectations are you able to recall? Are you even aware that they are applicable even today? What if you revisited the rules and expectations, the Ten Commandments, set forth by God regularly to guide and direct you through this world?

Turn From God, He Turns From You

Doesn’t that sound as though is abandoning us if/when we are not fully focused on Him. I agree and it does make it hard to come back to Him when I have the feeling that He has turned away from me. But, it only sounds like that when we take one verse and believe that is the way things are.

“³I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name…⁶If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.” – Leviticus 20:3&6 (ESV)

Notice the verbiage used here in the verses above. There is the “giving” of children to another god, and there is the “turning” to others than God. These are active and deliberate actions. These are the times when God will turn away. When we are conscious in our actions that go against the LORD, He will be conscious in His actions to turn away from us.

This is not to be confused with our distracted fade from Him. This happens and God is with us, constantly working to bring us back. He knows that we are wandering and seeking and He will be with us to carry us through it and to bring us back to Him when we are ready to commit back to Him. The LORD does not turn away from us just because we are struggling. He carries us through. It is when we know He is there and we turn away from Him in an act of walking away and devoting to another for answers.

“⁷Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” – Leviticus 20:7-8 (ESV)

See in the above verses that God asks us to “keep” and “do” His Will and “be holy”. In that, He sanctifies us. We are to seek Him in our time of need and He will grant us that which is “needed” to get through the adversity. Stay with our eyes on God and He will keep His eyes on us. We will falter and struggle, But the LORD is with us always. He will carry us through and we have to remember not to turn away from Him as though He is not there. If we turn away from Him, He will turn away from us. Keep Him there and He will be there.

Where are you looking when things are not going as you planned? Are you looking to some other entity to get you through it all? What if you kept your eyes on God and sought His council to get through, as He is always there?

Fear the LORD, Don’t Fear Him

I know, that seems a bit of a confusing title to my thoughts this morning. The definition from Merriam-Webster may help clearing it up a bit.

Fear: 1 a: an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger b (1): an instance of this emotion (2): a state marked by this emotion 2: anxious concern 3: profound reverence and awe especially toward God 4: reason for alarm – Merriam-Webster Online

I have to remember that there is fear and there is fear. I have to fear the LORD or have “profound reverence and awe” for Him. I have to recognize Him for who He is and know that He is greater than I and any other. I am in His world and am here to do His Will and not my own.

I also do not need to fear or have “alarm” of His reason for being here. He is great, yet there is no reason for me to worry that He will harm me. God loves me and would certainly do nothing to harm me.

“²⁰Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’” – Exodus 20:20 (ESV)

God had just spoken to the people in a thundering voice and given them the Ten Commandments. The people were not able to see Him and only heard the thundering voice and witnessed the ominous clouds as He spoke. This would certainly instill anxiousness and alarm for me as it did for them. Yet what does Moses tell them but to “not fear” but have “fear of him”.

We have to separate the fear. There is time for reverence and time for alarm. It is up to us to make that distinction. With God, there is no need to have alarm, and we should always have reverence. So I say again as in the title of my thoughts, “fear the LORD, don’t fear Him”.

What is your thoughts on the LORD? Are you running around alarmed that your life is somehow in danger? What if you were to have reverence for Him and know that your life is just getting started with the LORD by your side?

Mother of All

Reminded this morning that Eve was the mother of all.

“²⁰The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” – Genesis 3:20 (ESV)

This got me to thinking about how moms are revered in this world. It is something that we have witnessed throughout. Think about sports, the athletes praise and call out their moms before dads. We think about calling mom when we are away and not dad. Mother’s day is a celebrated event and father’s day is really just on the calendar. This is how it is and as we see from the verse above, it has always been this way.

Mothers comfort us. Mothers care for us. Mothers are those who provide in the home. I am sure that most remember that one house everyone went to where the mom was always doting on the kids of the neighborhood. She was there not just for you, but for all the others as well. We call them soccer moms. My wife, being a teacher and dance team leader, calls all the kids her kids and she is their mom away from home. The male teachers are not in the same category.

Mothers are for all. As is noted in the verse above, Eve was the mother of all living. That translates to today in that mothers are for all. I know that even today, I revere my mother. She cared for me and my siblings on her own and through it all, she sacrificed more than any of us really know. Mothers are for all.

What are your thoughts on mothers? Are you seeing them as just beings that gave you life? What if you were to revere them for all that they gave to you and those around you and realized that they indeed are for all?

God Knows

This morning as I was studying I was lead to more evidence that God knows all, before we or anyone else is informed. I am reading in Genesis a passage that I have read over at least a couple of times before (Genesis 2). And where I have been focused on the learning that God has for me, I somehow missed the foretelling of God’s plans.

“²⁴Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” – Genesis 2:24 (ESV)

And there you have it. God called the future just after the creation of Eve. He made woman and she was good for man as was the intent. They had no children at this time. God told them that there would be and that those children would be to leave their parents to be together as one. Just as Adam and Eve where to be one together in the working of the Garden of Eden.

God knows even when we do not. As creation had just happened, I have to believe that the prospects of children between Adam and Eve were minimal as they had no understanding of things at the time, yet God was sure that they would have children. He knows all and will let us know of His plans in the time that it is needed. Adam and Eve were placed in this world to be the caretakers of it. They relied of God to give them direction of how and with what resources. They were called to obey and part of that obedience was procreation. But, what to come of the children. They would be called to leave and care for one another.

God knows what is to happen well before it does. God knew that Adam and Eve would fall. He knew that they would need to be taken out of the Garden of Eden. He knew they would have children. He knew the children’s actions to come. God knows and I have to remember that as I move through my life.

In working through my life, I have to remember to listen to the LORD and allow Him to guide me. In the words of my pastor Jared Patrick, “The question I not, Is God on my side, but rather, are we on His?” He has the plan and knows the outcome, doesn’t it make sense for me to follow the plan He lays out. God is the only one who already knows the outcome of everything. I have to live a life of worship and be on His side and in a continuation of the message Jared gave, “A life of worship is a life of surrender”. I have to surrender to the LORD and allow His great knowledge to be revealed to me as I progress forward with His plan.

God knows and therefor I should be making my way with Him. I have to surrender to Him and worship Him and be on His side all the way.

Who are you relying on for guidance? Are you looking to someone in this world that may have just struck a bit of luck? What if you relied on the only one who knows, God?

Confess to the Father

This morning I am wrapping up my concordance study of the word “father”. Over the course of that past couple of months I have learned much in the way of my Father in heaven and father in this world. Today is a reminder for me as to who to rely on with all.

“⁵The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” – Revelation 3:5 (ESV)

I have to rely on my Father. As we see the words of Jesus above, He confesses before God the Father. As He is our example, we should do the same. I have to remember that my confessions are for my Father as well.

As a small child the father is the one in the home who is the immediate protector. He is the patriarch and the one we hide behind when things are not as they should be. He is the one who holds us when we need comforting. He is the one who cheers for us when we are out there doing what we do. And he is the one who listens when we have something to say and/or confess. And then we grow up. Our father in this world is not always there with us and we turn to our Father in heaven to take over.

It is my Father in heaven that is our immediate protector. He is the patriarch and the one we hide behind when things are not as they should be. He is the one who holds us when we need comforting. He is the one who cheers for us when we are out there doing what we do. And he is the one who listens when we have something to say and/or confess.

I have my Father to care for me. In order for that, I have to be here in confession with Him. I have to give it all to Him and know that He will take care of it all. I may not know or like the way He cares for it, but I have to know that He is and is doing so for me in line with His will for me and the spreading of the gospel. It is only up to me to come to Him and confess that which needs confessing and allow Him to love me and put things in motion for His glory.

Who are you confessing to? Are you just holding it all in or looking for someone/someplace to let it out? What if you were to give it all to our Father and allow Him to care for it all?

Know My Father to Know Me

“¹See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” – 1 John 3:1 (ESV)

As a child of God, I am different. I do not conform to the ways of this world that seems to be driven by societal norms. I do not seek to be insta-anything. I do not look to have what the “rich and famous” have. I do not do what I do for the recognition or notoriety of the world. I am here to serve God and to do His will. And that is what you may not know about me.

If you want to know who I am, look to my Father, who is my example. Look to Jesus and know Him to know me. He did not come to be liked by the world, He came to save the world. And that got Him killed, and that was the plan all along! He was not insta-anything, He did not have what the “rich and famous” had. He did not want recognition from the world. He was here to spread the gospel of His Father and to do His will.

Too often in this world, it is as though we are looking to be “like” someone. And usually that someone is from the societal norm that seems to have it all. I am not of that persuasion. I am content with who I am and what I have. Our newest car is a 2005. We are totally okay with having BLTs for dinner. We go shopping at the thrift shops. Our idea of a good night is relaxing at home streaming on the television.

Where the above is true, it is not that we are against what others have created for themselves and we do enjoy letting our hair down from time to time and going all out for some fun. But the difference is that we are not living to do so. We have a higher goal in mind and know that by following the example of our Father, we will reach that goal. By living a life of contentment, we are able to focus on that which will make a difference and that which is of the societal norm is not where we find ourselves longing to be.

If you really want to know me, get to know my Father in heaven. See the example that He gave and recognize that in me to see me in the light. Just because I do not look to be like everyone else, does not mean that I should be shunned by society. It is only because you don’t know my Father and therefor you do not recognize Him in me.

What is it that you are trying to be? Are you allowing society to drive who you are so that you will be known to all? What if you were to be like Christ and encourage everyone to get to know the Father to know you?