When God Speaks like a Mother

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Goal

That all of us would be able to take in God’s maternal attention to us
and care over us.

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord;
- also his mother,
- who has been a mother to me as well.” (Rom 16:13)

…Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.
And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”
The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”…

And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction…
So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (The well of the Living One who sees me); it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

Those who study child development have observed how it is through attachment to the mother that the child receives a sense of it’s own identity
- The mother says “you like that, don’t you!”
- Or you are so so sad, what is it?
As the child feels seen, it develops an identity from being valued
- Even pre-verbal, being noticed and seen is critical. (If you are interested, Google “still face experiment”
As some of you know, I have done some psychotherapy training, and I once saw a video of a woman
- 4 month old, hotel, ice cream
- As an adult she would care for everyone else but didn’t have a sense that she herself was worthy of care & respect
Then a mother figure came into her life and was shocked at the way she was being treated
- When she saw someone else deeply seeing her and standing up for her, she was willing to stand up for herself
But God sees us every moment. He does not forget us.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…

So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.
Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot,
for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.”

And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.

And God heard the voice of the boy,
and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her,

“What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.
And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad…
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried,
and the LORD heard him

and saved him out of all his troubles.

Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” says the LORD;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?” says your God.
“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;

For thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,

and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;…
As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

God who sees you: “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
God hears you: “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.”
God cares for you:As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you”