A Mother’s Heart

Hearts come in different sizes, varying degrees of tenderness, some cold and some warm, and some as big as big can get. But a mother's heart can be so misunderstood by the children she loves so much. In attempts to protect and nurture while teaching the hard lessons, her heart becomes so vulnerable and often bears unfathomable pain for only doing what a mother's heart knows to do.

Tonight, this mother's heart is broken. The circumstances aren't necessary. The only thing that needs to be said is that somehow God will bring healing—I have to trust He will. Perhaps part of my problem is that I look at things through the Word, trying to find God's voice in life's circumstances by learning how He responded under similar conditions.

God created mankind for His glory because He delights in us.  "Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made" (Isaiah 43:7)  That hit me so hard!  He delights in us even though we break His heart continually!  The Bible teaches us that we delight in that which we hold closest to us.  "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." ~ (Matthew 6:21)  God's love toward us proves that He treasures us. 

The thing is that He created us KNOWING we would break His heart through sin.  He made provision for our sin long before we created the world and everything in it.  Revelation 13:8 tells us that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world – God made the sacrifice to cover our sin and make a way for us even before He made us … He knew we would sin, He knew we would break His heart, but He created mankind anyway.  In so doing, however, He made Himself vulnerable to a broken heart—not just once or twice or even a few times, but over and over and over and over again.  The perfect Father knows what a broken heart feels like and yet He still loves—He still cherishes and treasures us, He still remains faithful to His covenant promises to always be our God, He still forgives.

God treasures us because He delights in us, He made us—we are an expression of His love.  And, He's vulnerable to the pain and disappointment we cause Him because of our continual sin.

As a mother, as a Christian mother, I have an obligation before God to emulate Him as our Father, to never waver in response toward our children who are an expression of the love shared by my husband and me just like mankind is an expression of God's love.  No matter what our children have done, we may be disappointed, hurt or heart-broken, but we never stop loving them—not any of them.

But, I'm human and subject to human frailties. I make mistakes. I internalize things that should just roll off my back. But this one thing I know. My heart will mend, all the difficult circumstances will work out, and we will go on.

But today my heart needs mending—the balm of healing applied as I seek refuge in God my Savior. In Him and Him alone will I find my help.

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© Jan Ross 2007
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