No matter where you are on the long but beautiful journey of motherhood, any one mother can resonate with the crying question of ‘Why?’. From the simple things of toddlerhood like” WHY won’t you go to sleep?” to the desperate plea of crying out for understanding and relief because “Why does it have to be like this?” to the “Why are the days long, but the years so short?” No one can prepare a mother’s heart for the broad spectrum of hardship this calling, responsibility, and holy act of motherhood brings into our lives. And, because we live between what was and will be, we often find fear invading our hearts through it all.
Fear is invasive, debilitating, stabilizing, isolating, and all-consuming. It deceives, confuses, and lies. Fear steals what is promised and hides what is available. The antidote to fear is trust, but what if the trust we know isn’t enough?
If you are familiar with the Bible, you may know the famous story of Moses and Pharaoh. In Exodus 2, we learn that Moses lived out of fear. He hid himself because he was afraid and built a life isolated from his people. Yet, God called to him. God appears to Moses in a burning bush. God commits a promise to his people through Moses. He promises provision, providing, and favor over the people of Israel. He gave every perfect and whole reason for Moses to trust him. Yet, after hardship, control, and fear consumed the heart of Moses, Moses, much like us, finds himself in Exodus 5 crying out, “Why are you doing this, Lord? Why did you choose me? Why did you send me?”
God told Moses exactly what he was going to do for his people. But we find Moses, with the only kind of trust he knew, crying out “Why?”. It was at this moment, when Moses was hopeless, confused, and fearful but humbly surrendered to the strong hand of the Lord, that the Lord moved in a way that was going to bring deliverance to his people. The Lord moved and said, “Now you shall see what I will do.”
I am the Lord.
I will bring you out from under the burdens.
I will deliver you from slavery.
I will redeem you.
I will take you as my people.
I will be your God.
When Moses responded in obedience AND surrendered, it was then that the Lord’s promise of deliverance acted and became. Although we don’t live in this period, and God isn’t delivering us from a Tyrant through a parted sea… as mothers, we can learn from what God teaches us through the story of Moses.
We can learn that the only trust (the beaten and battered kind) we know is enough. That our crying out in hardship is heard. We can understand that our posture in fear is everything. Do you have a clenched fist or open hands? We can learn that fear of surrender keeps us from the very thing that brings deliverance- surrender. Surrender to the God who promises you freedom, redemption, a light burden, and a love that conquers all. As I said, fear steals what is promised and hides what is available.
We can remember that it is out of our fear that the Lord God called so that He can be your God, and you can be his daughter.