Series Introduction
In this series re-run from 2018, we turn to the Bible and reflect on the example of the mothers we see there. Mothers are so important in our lives, and the mothers we see in the Bible provide both encouragement and challenge for us in their strengths and their weaknesses, and in the challenges and blessings they experience. Whether you are a mother or not, be encouraged and challenged by the stories of these women.
Reflection:
What an amazing name, title and expectation to have on your life – to be the mother of all the living! From the Bible’s narrative, we read of Eve’s first three children, all sons. From what we know from Scripture, Eve was the first woman to become pregnant; the first to give birth. The first mother to hold a baby. I cannot imagine what that would have been like, both the wonder, the joy and the hardship. Eve would have had no understanding of what she was experiencing. When Cain is born she exclaims, ‘With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man’. As far as we are told, there were no midwives – certainly no doctors. No mothers, aunts, or sisters to assist her with the birth. Eve was totally dependent on God, and she knew it – it was with God’s help alone she bore her child, the first child. Eve goes on to face the heartbreak of witnessing her first born kill her second born, and be cursed for it. What unimaginable grief for a mother, on so many levels. Yet God is merciful; he ‘granted her another child in place of Abel’ (4:25). And Seth is Adam’s true son, ‘in his own likeness’, just as men were created in the likeness of God (5:1-3). What a blessing, this son. Furthermore, Seth is the son of Adam named in the lineage of Jesus, the one God promised at the fall who would ‘crush Satan’s head’ (Gen 3:15), the Messiah, hundreds of years in the future (Luke 3:38).
How can we seek to become more totally dependent on God alone to face the blessings and challenges in our lives, as Eve was in her role as the mother of all the living?
Prayer:
Almighty God, thank you for your abundant grace in your actions towards Eve, and towards us. Thank you, that despite Eve’s sin, you blessed her as the mother of all the living. Thank you that she was able to be completely dependent on you in bringing forth her children. Father God, please help us to be likewise completely dependent on you, in the blessings you bestow on our lives, and in the challenges too. Amen.