Fixing our God-Image: God as Mother
We have been on a quest to find out what image of God we hold in our hearts, and asking God not to just repair, but transform our concept of Him. Because this is Mother's Day, I am thinking of my God-Image and how it was influenced by my perceptions of my mother. I've also asked God to search my heart, and the hearts of my children, for how I may have influenced my children's image of God for better or worse. It's been a humbling experience this morning.
I've spent quite a bit of time discovering where my perceptions of my mother have crossed paths with my concept of God through spiritual direction and therapy, but this morning the Lord began bringing to my mind the ways in which He is replacing my fractured concepts of 'mother' with His perfect mothering.
The nature of God as a mother is presented in great beauty and strength in Scripture as well as in the animal kingdom...
Every day I look at alpacas as they mother their crias. The hover over them at birth, clucking and humming, urging them to get up. They stand patiently while the cria finds the udder the first time, nudging them closer to the milk source. When other alpacas come around to see the new baby, the mother alpaca often spits at them, protecting her baby from interference. For 6 months this mother will patiently stand for her baby to nurse, sit by it, graze with it, and teach it all it needs to know to be an alpaca. If they become separated, the mother will hum and search for it. It's a full time job, and she's good at it. It's a beautiful scene. God cares for us with the tenderness and patience of a mother.
Eagles nest on sheer cliffs and in tall trees, sometimes with drops of thousands of feet. The mother keeps her eggs warm during their gestation, and protects her nest from intruders. When the eggs hatch, the mother flies for hours every day to catch enough food to feed her babies...and they are such hungry babies! Eventually the time comes when the chicks must learn to feed themselves, and that means that they must learn to fly. To accomplish this the mother eagle actually pushes one baby at a time out of the nest...into freefall down the face of the cliff. As the fledgling plummets down the cliff, the mother swoops low, positions herself under the falling baby, and actually catches it on her back! This is repeated every day with every baby until the fledglings learn to fly. It takes tremendous energy and skill, split-second timing, and unparalleled determination to teach baby eagles to fly...but they have just the right mother for the job! (Exodus 19:4; Deut 32:11) God raises us as His own, teaches us His ways by nudging us into the world, then catches us when we fall.
I once heard a story about a mother bird that was found by a hiker after a forest fire. She was perfectly formed, sitting on the ground under a tree, but scorched and dead. The hiker lifted her up to look more closely, and discovered a nest of live baby birds underneath her. Stunned, he took the nest of baby birds to the Ranger station for care. The ranger told the hiker that the mother bird had been protecting her chicks from the fire the only way she knew how, even though it had cost her her life. (Ps. 57:1; Matt. 23:37) God loves us sacrificially, like a mother who would give up her life rather than see her baby suffer. He died on a cross to protect us from eternal fire.
The mother bear is legendary for taking vengeance on passers-by who even look at her cubs. And the mountain lion guards her den with jealous fury, protecting cubs who are in danger by virtue of their curiosity and vulnerability. We see the same kind of protective nature in the story of Rizpah protecting the bodies of her sons who were hung and left at the mercy of the vultures during a war between Saul and David (2 Samuel 21). God comes to our defense against the Enemy of our souls, who is like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. He also hung on a cross for us when there was no one to keep the predators at bay.
God shows extreme tenderness when He speaks of being even more faithful than a human mother in Isaiah 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." God will never abandon us. He cannot forget us.
Did your mother always hear your cry, dry your tears, heal your wounds? God does. Here is what He sent Isaiah to tell Hezekiah when he was mortally ill: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you." In fact, God promises to be so effective as our Heavenly Mother that one day soon He will dry every tear, end the need for mourning, and do away completely with pain (Isaiah 21: 3-4)! No earthly mother could ever do that, regardless of how much she might want to. Only God can be our perfect Heavenly Mother.
And this is the point at which we no longer need to wonder whether God has a 'Mother' side to His character: "The name El Shaddai means the many-breasted one; the All-Sufficient One, Lord God Almighty; the name suggests strength and power. This refers to God completely nourishing, satisfying, and supplying His people with all their needs as a mother would her child."(http://kukis.org/Doctrines/Godsnames.htm)
I've spent quite a bit of time discovering where my perceptions of my mother have crossed paths with my concept of God through spiritual direction and therapy, but this morning the Lord began bringing to my mind the ways in which He is replacing my fractured concepts of 'mother' with His perfect mothering.
The nature of God as a mother is presented in great beauty and strength in Scripture as well as in the animal kingdom...
Eagles nest on sheer cliffs and in tall trees, sometimes with drops of thousands of feet. The mother keeps her eggs warm during their gestation, and protects her nest from intruders. When the eggs hatch, the mother flies for hours every day to catch enough food to feed her babies...and they are such hungry babies! Eventually the time comes when the chicks must learn to feed themselves, and that means that they must learn to fly. To accomplish this the mother eagle actually pushes one baby at a time out of the nest...into freefall down the face of the cliff. As the fledgling plummets down the cliff, the mother swoops low, positions herself under the falling baby, and actually catches it on her back! This is repeated every day with every baby until the fledglings learn to fly. It takes tremendous energy and skill, split-second timing, and unparalleled determination to teach baby eagles to fly...but they have just the right mother for the job! (Exodus 19:4; Deut 32:11) God raises us as His own, teaches us His ways by nudging us into the world, then catches us when we fall.
The mother bear is legendary for taking vengeance on passers-by who even look at her cubs. And the mountain lion guards her den with jealous fury, protecting cubs who are in danger by virtue of their curiosity and vulnerability. We see the same kind of protective nature in the story of Rizpah protecting the bodies of her sons who were hung and left at the mercy of the vultures during a war between Saul and David (2 Samuel 21). God comes to our defense against the Enemy of our souls, who is like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. He also hung on a cross for us when there was no one to keep the predators at bay.
Did your mother always hear your cry, dry your tears, heal your wounds? God does. Here is what He sent Isaiah to tell Hezekiah when he was mortally ill: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you." In fact, God promises to be so effective as our Heavenly Mother that one day soon He will dry every tear, end the need for mourning, and do away completely with pain (Isaiah 21: 3-4)! No earthly mother could ever do that, regardless of how much she might want to. Only God can be our perfect Heavenly Mother.
And this is the point at which we no longer need to wonder whether God has a 'Mother' side to His character: "The name El Shaddai means the many-breasted one; the All-Sufficient One, Lord God Almighty; the name suggests strength and power. This refers to God completely nourishing, satisfying, and supplying His people with all their needs as a mother would her child."(http://kukis.org/Doctrines/Godsnames.htm)
We hear so much about God, our Father, that we can forget the tender, Mother side of God. After all, Man and Woman were created to be One in order to reflect the complete nature of God, the relationship that exists in the very essence of the Trinity. Just as there is no male or female in Christ (Galatians 3:28), there is no male or female in the Trinity. God is complete. The Trinity is ungendered, yet possesses the character of both male and female. God can do more than replace our God-Image of an imperfect Father. He can also replace the memory and God-Image of an imperfect Mother. We don't need to look to Mary, the mother of Jesus, to represent a feminine side of God. Nor do we need to go in search of a pagan goddess to explain the mothering of God. He is complete! Not only that, but Colossians 2:9-10 tells us that "in [Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete". We are complete in Him, born anew of our Heavenly Parent who is both Father and Mother to our broken, orphaned souls.
Hallelujah.
;kj'k
Weher
Comments
Post a Comment