Devo #5
“Mothered By God”
“The number one word spoken from the lips of wounded and dying soldiers on the battlefield is ‘Mom…Mother…Ma!’ Of course it is. From our earliest memories, our mother is the source of all comfort, security, nourishment, and help…Starting in the womb, we receive all our nourishment from our mother; we are dependent on her in every way… In the first moments after birth, we were placed upon our mother’s chest, and our first experience of attachment is with her.” — John Eldredge, Resilience
God longs to meet us in our place of need. Although we usually refer to God as Father, He also relates to us with a mother’s ability to comfort and nourish. For motherhood itself comes from God. He masterminded the miracle of life—a fetus is formed and nurtured inside the female body, a newborn infant has immediate access to all of the nourishment and hydration he needs through his mother’s milk, and a developing baby receives deep social and emotional nurturing as he is cuddled in his mother’s arms, intently watched and adored.
In Isaiah 66:11-14, vivid motherhood imagery is used to describe God’s care for His people:
“You will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance…You will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you…”
When we open to the mothering of God, we learn that we always have enough, because we draw our life from His abundance. And we learn that we always are enough, because our existence is a source of tremendous joy to Him.
As we approach this weekend of retreat, I pray that it will be a time for each of us to experience the mothering of God. That we will be able to drink deeply, rest safely, and bask in His adoring gaze.