I will be
honest with you, recently I wondered what Mother’s Day was going to be like
this year. Mother’s Day can be a hard
day for some people. It is not always a
happy day for sons and daughters who have lost their mothers, women who want to
be mothers, mothers who have lost children, or mothers who have children that
are separated from them, and the list goes on.
For me Mother’s Day could have been a hard day due to the failed
adoption. The anticipation of thinking I
would be a mother and even feeling like a mother in my heart and then having
all those hopes and dreams come crashing down is not an easy thing. However, by the grace of God, when Mother’s
Day came today I did not find myself wallowing in self-pity but rejoicing in
the mother God has given me.
I think
sometimes it can be hard for women who have miscarried or lost a child because
although they know they are a mom, others may not recognize that. I will be honest with you, this morning I
knew people wouldn’t see me as a mom, and rightfully so. However this morning when I got up I had a
desire in my heart for someone to recognize that this day might be important to
me.
A friend of
mine spoke at church today in honor of Mother’s Day and her teaching was a very
timely message that spoke to my heart. I
thought I would share a snippet of the message with you.
The message
was entitled “Jesus Restores Your Life”
The teaching
was based on Luke 7:11-17 which says:
11 Soon afterwards
He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. 12 Now
as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a
widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the
Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to
her, “Do not weep.” 14 And He
came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young
man, I say to you, arise!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave
him back to his mother. 16 Fear gripped them all,
and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has
arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” 17 This
report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding
district. (NASB)
The four points of her message were the following:
1) Jesus sees you.
2)
Jesus’ heart goes out to you.
3) Jesus comforts you.
4) Jesus restores your
life.
She pointed out how the mother was
the center of this passage.
This message encouraged me, showing me that Jesus sees me and that He
will restore my life. If you are hurting
and feel like your life has fallen apart around you, remember that Jesus sees
you and wants to restore your life. Fix
your eyes on Jesus and keep running with endurance.
Later in the morning another friend came up to me after church and asked
me how I was doing and if this was a hard day for me. The fact that this friend recognized that
this day may be hard for me and was willing to listen to the Spirit’s prompting
to ask me about it encouraged me. God
showed me by the message that He sees me but then He also used one of His
children to be His hands and feet and physically show me that He sees me by her
reaching out to me and asking me how I was doing. It is so hard for me to believe sometimes
that Jesus sees ME. It is easier to
believe that Jesus sees everyone else but sometimes it is harder to believe
that He specifically sees me. Sometimes
we need our brothers and sisters in Christ to speak truth to us. So if you feel like you are being lost in the
crowd, know that Jesus specifically sees you and wants to restore your life.
I leave you with this song that God brought to my mind this afternoon
that goes along so well with the message today.
To all the hurting mothers who feel unseen, unrecognized, and lost in the crowd: Happy Mother's Day! Remember He sees us and He will restore us!
Kristin
