13 Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”
15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Isaiah 49:13-16 NIV
Have you ever experienced the tender, nurturing, abundant love of God? How would you describe this love? One of my most compelling encounters with the “mothering” side of God came when helping a member of our congregation plan a funeral for his estranged mother. I remember him asking those of us on staff to help him find the verse that mentioned mothers who forget their children, but God remembering anyway. Isaiah 49:15 became the theme of that funeral for a man who chose not to focus on his lost mother-love, but on the unending abundance of God’s way of loving him as only a perfect mother could.
I confess that God having a mothering part of His character was new and a bit uncomfortable for me at first. God as “Father” had been deeply ingrained in me from my Sunday school days onward. However, after chewing on this idea, praying and studying, I slowly came to the realization that God created motherhood, the need for mother love and the need for deep attachment in every single one of us, so why couldn’t He have this “mother” side? The Bible has some tender passages about this kind of nurturing love and this assurance of abundance that we were made to crave. Isaiah 66 overflows with God’s mother-comfort and invitation to deep attachment:
11 For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance.”
12 For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you…..
Isaiah 66:11-13a NIV
Every time I think of this kind of attachment, I think of my great-nephew, Caleb. When he was an infant, I offered to hold him so his tired mother could eat some Christmas Eve dinner. I sat in a chair by the fireplace and placed him on my chest with his little head tucked into my neck. The fire was roaring and before long, its heat made us both sticky with sweat. When Caleb’s mama came to retrieve her baby, she had to literally peel him away from me for we were glued, skin to skin. What a powerful bond we shared!
I am discovering that God is inviting us to this kind of attachment, an ongoing fountain of life that begins when we say “Yes!” to Jesus’ invitation to be in union with Him. This sustaining stream continues to flow into us every day of our lives. All the joy, all the courage, all the creativity, and all the resilience we need comes from that attachment, but ceases without it. So, do you think asking our Creator for the kind of mother-attachment we need might be an effective way to increase our connection to Him? Do you think taking this need to any other place might not only be counter-productive but dangerous? Might we pray about this?
Prayer
Abba, my Daddy-God, I need your mother-love. I live with such a sense of scarcity in the world around me, that I need Your assurance of abundance. I need a deep, constantly flowing, bonded love with You. I give you all this need for mother-love, and I open the deep places of my heart to You. Forgive me for taking this need to any other source. Comfort the fears that haunt me and nourish me, Your hungry child. Please show me the deep places in me that are not available to this kind of love. I need every blessing you want to give me. Thank You for engraving me on the palms of your hands. Thank You for staying aware of my need to be built up and protected. Amen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc6SSHuZvQE (Reckless Love)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDURInx_GUk (It’s Always Been You)
Grow Anyway 