Women-Some Tough Mothers

“To the woman God said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in child bearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.” Genesis 3:16

“The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” Genesis 3:21

“And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his (Jesus) mother, ‘Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and asword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’” Luke 2:34-35 (ESV)

The Fall of Man was not entirely Eve’s fault. Adam was ultimately responsible, as we’ll see tomorrow. But the consequences of choosing Satan’s lies over God’s truth are staggering. All of the evils and ills that plague mankind are results of The Fall. One of those consequences is the incredible pain of childbirth.

I suffered from a kidney stone once. I’ve talked to women who have experienced both and they tell me a kidney stone is about as close to the pain of childbirth as I’ll ever come. I remember lying on my living room floor as that little piece of calcification moved through my Ureter (the tube between our kidneys and bladder). It felt like somebody was shoving a red-hot poker through my lower back. I remember praying and asking God to let an airplane crash through my roof and kill me instantly. My wife and kids were asleep. I didn’t want to scare them so, after two hours of writhing, I called my friend to take me to the Emergency Room (driving myself was out of the question). My ordeal lasted five hours. I’ve heard of labor lasting a full day or more.

People say men couldn’t take the pain of childbirth. I don’t agree with that. If God designed us to carry babies to term and deliver them, and assigned us that role, we’d be able to do it.  That doesn’t diminish how tough women are, though.

Get on the Internet and point your search engine toward “child birth,” and you’ll get all the information you can absorb about the miraculous, amazing, sometimes terrible things a woman endures as she carries a baby to term and delivers him or her. I won’t try to replicate that here. Let’s just say it is extremely uncomfortable for a long time, and excruciating at the end. I guess what amazes me is that any woman does it more than once. Thank you, ladies!

But what about Luke 2:34-35? That mixture of mental toughness and tenderness is what amazes me. There are few things stronger than a mother’s bond with her child. It brings tremendous joy, great fear, and immense pain. Scientist call it maternal instinct, but it is a bond given by God. It is a call to nurture and protect, but also a mandate to release the child at some point and trust God with his or her future.

Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would give birth to the Son of the Most High God. Gabriel said He would be great and God would give Him the throne of David. This kid had promise! So does every child carried by every woman on the face of the planet. Every child has a chance to be a great success, to transcend the circumstances and station of his or her birth, to achieve great things, and to bless many. But no matter how great your child will become, there will be pain along the way and moms feel that more deeply than anyone else.

Mary would see Jesus rise from the dead in victory, but first she would see Him betrayed, scorned, lied about, arrested, beaten, and crucified. When I was eleven years old, I played quarterback for my football team. To this day my mom remembers her feeling as she sat in the stands, proud as can be, and heard a parent rooting for the opposing team yell, “Kill the quarterback!” She took that very personally. If she saw that guy today, I bet she’d want to slap him. Mothers live and die with every trial their children experience. Every harsh word spoken against us is like a sword through her soul. The path to victory is lined with hardship, trials, and sacrifice. As we hurt, our moms hurt with us. it is a special bond.

Thanks moms for bearing us, raising us, and having the courage to let us go, even though you’ll always hurt with us and think if us as your little guy or girl. Thank God for tough mothers.