Sunday, May 13, 2012
MOTHERS WITH GODLY INFLUENCE
I Samuel 1:1-2:10; Luke 1:26-56
“The hand
that rocks the cradle rules the world.”
Have you heard that old saying?
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the logic of that statement. Because a mother spends so much time with her
children and has such great influence in their lives, she can shape the world,
as she molds the character of her children.
Perhaps the direction of our society would force us to alter that old
saying. Perhaps it would be more
accurate to now say, “The world threatens to rule the hand that rocks the
cradle.” And now when I use the term
“world,” I am referring to godless society and its independence from the
Almighty Creator. Rather than mothers
influencing the character of their children and thus providing a positive
influence on society, the tendency in our day is for society to so influence
the mother that she has little positive influence upon her children.
Let me put
it another way: It isn’t easy being a
mother in our society. Most everyone has
a certain respect for motherhood, but society’s picture of the ideal mother has
changed a great deal in the past few decades.
While a century ago a mother fought not to be consumed by the demands of
her work load, the modern inventions that have eased the work load have not
necessarily set mothers free to spend more time molding the character of their
children. The pressures of work have
been replaced by pressures which are far more subtle but no less powerful.
Rather than
trying to evaluate all the challenges mothers face because of the pace of our
modern society, please allow me to come directly to the point. Let’s talk about the time a mother spends
with her children. As we do, we will
inevitably encounter the idea of quality time versus quantity time. It has become popular to say, “I may not
spend as much time with my kids as I would like to, but the time I have with
them is quality time.” In other words,
“I make the best use of the time I do spend with them.” The truth is that a mother needs a great
quantity of time with her children, and it needs to be quality time.
But how
does a mother do that? Mothers, spend
time with your kids and spend time with the Lord. In order to spend time with her kids, a
mother must say “No” to many things in this world. In order to make her time with the kids
quality time, she must spend time with the Lord.
I. Why Time with Your Kids and Time with the
Lord?
You may
say, “And why is that so important?” We
can answer that question by starting with another question: “What is a mother’s goal for her kids?” Mother’s, I would like you to ask yourself
that question. What is it that you want
for your children? Do you want them to
excel at what they do? Do you want them
to be financially successful? Do you
want them to find a wonderful husband or wife?
Are you eager for them to marry and have children of their own? Some of those goals are more noble than
others, but none of them are the best.
None of those goals necessarily have any eternal value. Certainly, it will be a good thing for your
daughter to find a wonderful husband, but that is not the ultimate goal. You can reach all of those goals, and your
children can still go to hell. The achievement
of those goals will not necessarily bring glory to the God who created your
children.
So what is
your great goal for your children? Can
you say that you want what God wants for your kids? Do you have a great desire to so mold the
character of your children that they will bring glory to God throughout their
lives on this earth and then spend eternity with Him? There is no more noble goal for our
children. Anything else falls short of
God’s best. So when I say that it is
vitally important for you to spend time with your kids and time with the Lord,
I am speaking in the context of longing to raise godly children who will bring
glory to our Lord.
In order to
have great influence on your children, you must spend much time with them. Children are especially influenced by the
people they are around. That is why you
parents are rather careful about who shares the company of your children. You don’t like the idea of your son or
daughter hanging around with a kid who is disrespectful of his parents. Nor do you want him or her to be close
friends with a girl who thinks about nothing but having a boyfriend. It is because you are aware of how your
children are influenced by those with whom they spend time. The more time you as a mother spend with your
children, the greater your opportunity to influence them. There is no substitute for time with your
kids.
Having said
that, now we must understand that while such shared time is vitally important,
it is not enough. Not only do you want
to influence your children, but you want to be the right influence upon
them. To put it bluntly, you want to be
a godly influence in their lives. So how
will you be that godly influence that your children so desperately need? The answer is simple but profound – spend
time with the Lord. Yes, it’s a simple
concept. As your children are influenced
greatly by those with whom they spend time, so you are influenced greatly by
those with whom you spend time. If you
spend time with the Lord, will you not be more like Him?
By
the way, you have probably figured out that this is not a concept that applies
only to mothers. Is it not true that we
become like our Lord, as we spend time with Him? Recently we have repeatedly come to II
Cor. 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled
face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” As we long for the Lord and gaze on Him with
love and admiration, our Father increasingly makes us like Him. Praise God!
I think also of the words of David in Ps. 27:4, “One thing have
I desired of the Lord; that will I seek after – that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to
inquire in his temple.”
Mothers, as you spend time in the
presence of the Lord, as you are increasingly transformed into the image of
Jesus Christ, you cannot help but be a godly influence upon your children. On the one hand, you can deliberately lay out
plans to influence your kids, but also realize that the greatest part of that
influence will be on an subconscious level.
As it is sometimes said, “What is caught is just as important as what is
taught.” May your children catch from
you a hunger to know and be like Jesus.
II. Great
Examples of this Godly Influence
We can hardly speak of godly mothers
in the Bible without thinking of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Do you remember Hannah? Let’s take time to read the story. I Samuel 1:1-28…
Now there
was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his
name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 And he had
two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah.
Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 This man
went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in
Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord,
were there. 4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering,
he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to
Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord
had closed her womb. 6 And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her
miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it was,
year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her;
therefore she wept and did not eat. 8 Then Elkanah
her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And
why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" 9 So Hannah
arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest
was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord.10 And she was
in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. 11 Then she
made a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the
affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your
maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him
to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his
head." 12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord,
that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her
voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said
to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!" 15 And Hannah
answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have
drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before
the Lord. 16 Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have
spoken until now." 17 Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace, and the God of
Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him." 18 And she
said, "Let your maidservant find favor in your sight." So the woman
went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. 19 Then they
rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came
to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord
remembered her. 20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah
conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked for him from the Lord." 21 Now the man
Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and
his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband,
"Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear
before the Lord and remain there forever." 23And Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems best
to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the Lord establish His word." So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she
had weaned him. 24Now when she
had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to
the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they
slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. 26 And she
said, "O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by
you here, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my
petition which I asked of Him. 28 Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he
lives he shall be lent to the Lord." So they worshiped the Lord there.
We don’t
know exactly how old Samuel was when his parents took him up and left him with
Eli the priest, but he was obviously a young boy. Perhaps he was three at the time. Surely the Lord did not preserve this story
in His Word to encourage mothers to give up their children at the age of
three. I take this to be one of those
unique instances, when the Lord did something once and for all. On the other hand, we can certainly learn
important principles from the life of Hannah as a mother.
Consider
Samuel for a moment. We don’t have time
to study his life this morning, but suffice it to say that Samuel was a
faithful servant of the Lord from youth and was greatly used by God. Even as a boy, he was faithful to speak what
God told him to speak, even when it was a prophecy of bad news for Eli. When he grew up, Samuel would be used by God
to anoint the first two kings of Israel – Saul, and then David. He was highly respected by the nation, and he
called them to serve the Lord.
We might
ask, “So what was the source of Samuel’s godliness?” At first, we might be tempted to conclude
that the primary advantage of Samuel was the fact that he was raised by a
priest in the house of the Lord. Imagine
that – serving under a priest from the age of three or so. Add to that the fact that he was often in the
presence of the first king of Israel.
Surely those things would bring out the best in a young man. But the fact is that Eli was not a positive
influence on Samuel’s life. The first
prophecy Samuel uttered was a declaration that God would strip the priesthood
from Eli because of his disobedience to the Lord. And though Saul started out well as king, he
would soon disobey the Lord and would end up as a rebel who spent his time and
energy trying to kill the Lord’s anointed, David. Samuel was a godly man, in spite of these
ungodly influences.
Surely the
greatest godly influence in Samuel’s life was his mother Hannah. She had him for only about three years. After that, best we can tell, she saw him only
once a year, when the family went up to Shiloh to offer the yearly sacrifice,
at which time she would take Samuel the new robe she had made for him. How could Hannah exercise such a great
influence upon Samuel in such a short time?
We have
already seen that Hannah was a godly woman.
No doubt, she had prayed for a child for a long time. What we read here in I Samuel 1 is just the
climax to her plea for a son. Her vow to
give Samuel to the Lord reveals that her greatest desire was not for her happiness,
but for God’s glory. Now let’s read
Hannah’s prayer in chapter 2. Bear in
mind that this is not the pray she prayed when she found out she was pregnant
or when Samuel was born. Rather, this is
the prayer she prayed when she offered him to the Lord at Shiloh, after she had
weaned him. This is what Hannah said to
the Lord, when she delivered Samuel to Eli the priest, knowing that she would
no longer be raising him as her son. Read
I Samuel 2:1-10…
And Hannah
prayed and said: "My heart rejoices in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the
Lord. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 2 "No one
is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock
like our God. 3 "Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come
from your mouth, For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are
weighed. 4 "The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who
stumbled are girded with strength. 5 Those who
were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to
hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, And she who has many children has
become feeble. 6 "The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the
grave and brings up. 7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts
up. 8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from
the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of
glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, And He has set the
world upon them. 9 He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be
silent in darkness. "For by strength no man shall prevail. 10 The
adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder
against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give
strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed."
This prayer
tells us much about Hannah. I would
expect her prayer to go something like this:
“Lord, you know how hard this is for me.
Please give me grace to accept your will…” There is none of that here. No doubt, this was a difficult thing for
Hannah to do, but her focus isn’t on her difficulty. Rather, her prayer is a triumphant song of
praise to her mighty and glorious Lord.
Is it not amazing the way she can praise the Lord at a time such as
this! Her life is wrapped up in the
glory of her God, and so it would be with her son Samuel. Her prayer gives strong evidence that she was
a woman who spent much time with the Lord.
Surely it was her devotion to the Lord and time spent with Him that
enabled her to have such a great and godly influence upon her son during his
early formative years.
Let’s
quickly also consider Mary, the mother of Jesus Himself. Her story is recorded in Luke 1:26-45…
Now in the
sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named
Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.28 And having
come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is
with you; blessed are you among women!" 29 But when she
saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of
greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for
you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a
Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be
great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give
Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will
reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no
end." 34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I
do not know a man?" 35 And the
angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One
who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed,
Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is
now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God
nothing will be impossible." 38 Then Mary said,
"Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your
word." And the angel departed from her. 39 Now Mary
arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of
Judah, 40 and entered
the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it
happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in
her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she
spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is
this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed,
as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my
womb for joy. 45 Blessed is
she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were
told her from the Lord."
Notice
those simple words of Mary in verse 38, “Behold the maidservant of
the Lord! Let it be to me according to
your word.” What an attitude of trusting
the Lord! Mary was not ignorant. She had already asked how these things were
going to happen, in light of the fact that she was a virgin. Even if she were to experience this
miraculous birth, what would people think?
What would Joseph think? And what
about her parents? There was a price to
be paid for the privilege granted her, but she trusted the Lord.
Now let’s
read Mary’s song. I can’t read it
without noting the similarities with Hannah’s prayer, which we just read a few
minutes ago. Read Luke 1:45-55…
And Mary
said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my
spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has
regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all
generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who
is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His
mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. 51 He has shown
strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their
hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted
the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He
has sent away empty.54 He has
helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke
to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever."
As was the
case with Hannah, Mary does not focus on herself. After giving thanks to the Lord for what He
is doing for her, she then praises Him for His mercy to all generations and
exalts Him for His great work among His people.
And now verse
56, “And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her
house.” Mary chose to spend the first
part of her pregnancy with Elizabeth, who was a relative. She stayed there with her until shortly before
the birth of her son John. They rejoiced
together, because God had done a great miracle in each of them. The conversation between them reveals their
focus upon the Lord and His glory.
This was
the woman who raised Jesus. She was a
godly woman. Though we are not
specifically told that she spent a great deal of time with Jesus, I believe we
can safely assume that fact. What is
revealed to us is that Mary was a godly woman who glorified the Lord.
Down through
the centuries the world has been blessed with godly women like Hannah and
Mary. Recently on Wednesday evening we
mentioned Susannah Wesley, the mother of 19 children. Though all 19 were not alive at once, as she
lost nine children before they reached the age of two, she had a house full of
kids. How could a woman with so many
kids have time to spend with the Lord?
Her practice was to spend two hours a day in prayer, carefully training
her children to take care of one another during those times. If she couldn’t find a room for a retreat,
she just flipped her apron up over her head and began to pray. Out of her home came John and Charles Wesley,
who greatly influenced this world for the glory of God.
III. How Can I Be a Woman Who Spends Time with My
Children and Time with the Lord?
Now we come
to the big question: “How can I be a
woman who spends time with my children and time with the Lord?” It’s one thing to talk about the importance
of this lifestyle and examples of those who have practiced it; it is quite
another to actually do it. How can you,
an ordinary mother, consistently spend time with the Lord and time with your
children?
First of
all, let’s all agree that no woman in her own strength is up to the task. To put it bluntly, you can’t do it. If you think you can, may the Lord quickly
bless you with a child who will help you realize the impossibility of the
task! Though your own efforts may appear
to make a difference for a while, every mother will find that only the power of
God can sustain her in this endeavor.
Therefore, the first great need is prayer. And this is where I want to speak to all of
us. I have been addressing mothers with
children in the home. That includes
quite a number here this morning, but it leaves out even more. But I don’t want any of us to feel left out
this morning. The importance of how our
mothers perform their task is vitally important for all of us, because their
children will influence our world either in a positive or negative manner. Make no mistake about it, these mothers will
influence their children. Brothers and
sisters, we have the privilege of influencing the world by praying for these
mothers. While I don’t want to minimize
the importance of encouraging and coming alongside these mothers, there is
nothing as important as praying for them.
There will be times when they are too busy with their children to
receive encouragement from you, but there is never a time when the Lord will
not receive your prayers on their behalf.
So let’s pray!
Mothers, the same is true for
you. It is important that you pray too. There is nothing so important as crying out
to God. I must remind you again that the
task of being a godly mother is too difficult for you. You can’t do it on your own. So
pray. Specifically, ask God to give you
the wisdom to set aside time with Him on a regular basis.
The pressures of time and busyness
are not unique to mothers, but it seems that they loom especially large in the
lives of our precious ladies who are raising children. Perhaps you have read the little pamphlet,
“The Tyranny of the Urgent.” Its basic
theme is simple: There are certain
urgent tasks that demand our immediate attention. There are other things which are far more
important in the long run, but it seems that they can wait. So while we are attending to the urgent
tasks, these more important matters are neglected. As this pattern continues, our lives are
wrapped up in the urgent and we never seem to get to the more important
things. Ultimately, even things of
eternal importance are moved to the back burner and tend to stay there.
The great need is for us to live in
light of eternity. This is why the Word
of God is so important. The truth of the
Bible has a way of reminding us of what is important. Mothers, as you pray and the Lord blesses you
with time in His presence, you will find that He is spending more time with
your children through you. As you
fellowship with Him, you find that Tommy keeping his hair combed and his face
clean is not nearly as vital as instilling an attitude of thanksgiving in him. More and more, you recognize that your great
desire is to mold their character more than their appearance.
Mothers, may God give you the Phil.
4:13 approach: “I can do all things
through Christ, who strengthens me” – even the strength to spend time with the
Lord and time with the kids. Brothers
and sisters, may God give us grace to pull away from our schedules and routines
in order to give ourselves consistently to something of eternal importance –
the raising of our children and praying for those who are now shouldering that
awesome task.
Conclusion
Back to the
old saying: “The hand that rocks the
cradle rules the world.” Perhaps we
could modify it a bit and simply say:
“The mother who abides in the Lord will bless her children and the world
in which they live.” Mothers, we see God
doing that in you and we pray that He will continue to do so for His glory.
Pray for Mothers
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