The Mother Heart of God
Nurturing Love
Years ago the Lord brought into my life a young man (much younger
than my own son but not quite old enough to be my grandson). He
had just received the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior. His short
life was filled with painful experiences. His emotions were in
acute need of comfort and healing.
Since infancy, divorce had not only deprived him of a father’s love
and influence, but work and several marriages, had also denied him the
comfort of the mother’s arms.
The counsel that the Holy Spirit provided him through me seemed
helpful, but I wondered if he would have done better with a male
counselor instead of me. In my heart I debated whether it would be
considered wise for a woman (although fairly advanced in age) to counsel
this young man.
The Lord quickened two Bible passages to confirm to me that the young
man initially needed a mother’s nurturing comfort before he could
receive the fatherly love that a male figure could provide.
The Scriptures were: Isa 66:13 “As one whom his mother
comforteth, so will I comfort you” and Isa 49:15 "Can a
woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her
womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.”
In both passages the Lord compares Himself to a mother. The mother in
fact, is the first person to provide emotional security for a child.
Love originates from her. She is the connection that the child needs.
The special affection she gives to the newborn, will accompany him (or
her) the rest of his life.
When that special bond is missing, the deprivation of the mother’s
love transmits to the child feelings of abandonment, which are very
painful. The child feels disconnected and plunged down into a deep
hole. Deadness and hardness sets in. Desertion blocks the
emotions and the child cannot trust, for trust – like the Bible says -
is learned in the arms of a mother: “…You made me hope and
trust
when I was on my mother’s breast”. Psalm 22:9 (Amplified Version).
Because of a deficit in maternal nurturing during the formative years
a person, men in particular, can’t open their heart to spouse or
children.
The reasons for this deficiency could have been many: physical
absence because of work, forced separation from the child (caused by
death or sickness), poor communication, inability to express tenderness
and so forth...
Usually a mother does not willfully neglect her own child.
Notwithstanding, often the circumstances of life force her to live out a
different role. The result of this devastatingreality injures in more
ways than one if we also consider that a girl derives her feminine
identity from mom and a boy relates to his wife in the way he responds
to the female parent.
Thanks be to God! In Him the gap within the love the child
needed and the one he received, can be bridged!
The Maternal Aspect in the Godhead
Among all the names of God we find ‘El Shaddai ‘or ‘God
Almighty ‘. This word also means ‘The many
breasted one’, giving the idea of a
God of comfort.
We have already seen that in Isaiah 49:15-16 God compares Himself to
a nursing mother. Now we are going to look at other scriptures where it
is evident that the Godhead contains the representation of two roles:
the one of the father and the one of the mother. He is sufficient for
both. This concept is better understood if we regard that
gender is not the issue here. God is neither man nor woman; He is a
Spirit (John 4:24). Therefore, the term mother or father refers to
a role: the maternal or the paternal, not to a gender (boy or girl).
Num 11:11-12 “And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou
afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy
sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
Have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them, that thou
shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing
father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto
their fathers? “(KJV) (emphasis mine)
Isa 46:3 “Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant
of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly,
which are carried from the womb” (KJV)(emphasis
mine)
The word womb comes from the Hebrew Racham
and it means: compassion (in the
plural); the womb (as cherishing the fetus); by implication, a
maiden. It is translated as: bowels, compassion, damsel,
tender love, (great, tender) mercy, pity, and womb. (Strong #7356).
Jer 31:20 “Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for
since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore
my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have
mercy upon him, saith the LORD.”(KJV)(Emphasis mine).
The original word for bowel is Meah,
which can be translated belly, bowel, womb, heart.
(Strong #4578).
Job 38:8-9 “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if
it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the
garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it.
Here we see creation, the sea in particular, bursting out of God’s
womb like a baby, later wrapped in swaddling clothes made of thick
darkness.
Isa 42:14 “I have long time holden my peace; I have been still,
and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will
destroy and devour at once.
This scripture compares God to a woman in labor.
Ps 27:10 “When my father and my mother
forsake me, then the LORD will take me up”.
THE LORD, in this case takes the place of mother and father both.
Therefore, there is in the Godhead a feature that satisfies the need for
mother and the need for father. He is the perfect single parent!
Notice how all the above Scriptures about God point to feminine
attributes, those of a mother in particular. It is also
interesting that the Church of the Living God is also addressed in the
feminine, as God’s wife and the Bride of Christ.
Parenthood versus Fatherhood and Motherhood
The Greek word for FATHER is Pater
(Strong # 3962). This word can also be translated PARENT.
We need two parents: The Father, who procreates, generates, and the
Mother who carries and gives birth. Another Hebrew word for
mother, by the way, is Rechem (Strong #7358).
Very similar to the one considered above, Rechem is translated Matrix
(or womb), the mold for casting (like in mother of
pearl, which is the shell where the pearl is generated).
Although the Bible tells us that Jesus came to reveal the Father, He
came to disclose both aspects of parenthood for in Him dwelleth the
fullness of Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9).
(Emphasis mine).
Some of Mothers’ Traits
What are some attributes of a mother? Besides giving birth, she cares
and she comforts, she instructs and encourages. Her love is tender
even in her exhortations. She is usually a peacemaker and bonds the
family together. Her heart of mercy and grace mitigates the disciplinary
love of the father.
As already mentioned motherhood and fatherhood, are roles that have
nothing to do with gender (although in the natural realm, God has
assigned the role of the father to the man and the role of the mother to
the woman). Who has the role or the personality of a mother in the
Godhead? Although Jesus reflected the inclusive image of
God as a parent, His role is the one of the Son. The Holy Spirit then is
the obvious person that fulfills the maternal role in the Godhead.
John 3:5-6 “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit.” (Emphasis mine).
The Holy Spirit gives birth (spiritual). He is the womb.
Rom 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered.”
The Holy Spirit travails.
His Names are: Paracletos (the One who comes along side),
Advocate (like a mother defending her own child), Comforter,
Friend, Teacher, Helper, Strengthener, and
Exhorter…these are all things that a mother does.
I wonder if Jesus had a mother in mind when He said: you must become
like children to enter kingdom (Mt.18: 3)?
How do children relate to moms?
*When they are babies they nurse from her breasts
(we must feed on the milk of the Word),
*They cuddle in her arms (let’s run to the Comforter
when we need consolation),
*They want to be close to her at all times (do we
desire to have communion with the Holy Spirit?),
*They depend on the mother to change their diapers
(are we willing to let the Holy Spirit clean us up? Like David, we must
cry, ”search me o God and know my heart, see if there is a wicked
way in me and lead me in your ways." Psalm 139:33.
*They are totally dependent on her. (That’s how
Jesus was! By the Spirit He cast out devils (Matt.12: 28), by the
Spirit He entered the Temple as a child (Luke 2:27), by the Spirit He
went into the wilderness (Luke 4:1) and through the Eternal Spirit He
offered Himself (Heb.9: 14). His trust in the Holy Spirit was unmovable
and complete.
Likewise we need to trust this third Person of the Trinity if we too
want to enter the Kingdom of God.)
********************
The Holy Spirit wants an intimate relationship with us just like the
one Jesus had with Him when He was in the world as a man.
Yet for some of you it is hard to abandon yourself to the unconditional
love of the Comforter because of deep wounds, relating to a scarcity of
a mother’s love, that need healing. These are times to ask God to
restore you. The Holy Spirit will fill the love deficit and give grace
to forgive the mother who has consciously or unconsciously rejected and
abandoned you. It doesn’t matter how old you are. Go to the
Comforter and you will find peace there. Ask Him to forgive you
for holding on to self-pity and be reconciled to the one who gave you
birth.
Also know that the Lord has enlarged your heart through your pain.
As you receive the restoring love of the Holy Spirit, you will have
understanding and compassion to receive and comfort the unlovable, the
wounded, the rejected and the unwanted.
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;Who comforteth us in all
our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Cor 1:3-4
Are you a mom who knows the pain of a brokenheart over the rebellion
and the estrangement of wayward children? We, His children, often grieve
the Holy Spirit; He knows and understand the aching of your heart.
Let Him heal that crushing grief. Know that you have learned the
unconditional love of God through your suffering. You have been
prepared to embrace those prodigals God is bringing back to the fold,
who smell like they have been in the pig pan.
The plan of God is to mold His Church, most of the time through
suffering. His promise however, is that none of our sorrows will
be of no avail, but they will all be brought to bear souls into the
kingdom and healing to His Body.
Many are even now coming to the kingdom that need re-parenting. The
Lord needs fathers and mothers to fulfill Malachi 4:6 “And
he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of
the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse.”
The role of mothers in the Church is just as important as that of the
fathers. The Holy Spirit in the Church
is now God’s womb on the earth. Life comes out
of the womb (“out of the belly shall flow rivers of
living water…John 7:38).
Yes the Church is called to bring forth life, but also to express the
maternal, nourishing love that those who come out of the world so
desperately need. Isaiah prophesied it:
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith
the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy
God.
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love
her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may
suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her
consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the
abundance of her glory.
For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like
a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall
ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her
knees.
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I
comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in
Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66:9-13. (Emphasis mine).
Could it be that one reason we are not seeing a mighty ingathering
yet is because the Lord is setting mothers and fathers in their places?
Those who, having come through affliction,are fully prepared to reveal
the heart and the ways of God to the next generation?
This is the time.
| 
