mom – Our God is a consuming fire

Hey all you mamas out there – how are you doing? It’s a lot, isn’t it? The responsibilities, pressures, concerns and worries… the laundry and school assignments and decisions and cooking and workload … and then Christmas comes and brings a whole new set of pressure.

My youngest turns 13 a week before Christmas, so we are planning for as much birthday magic as we can muster in these busy days with all the Christmas going on, and I’ll be honest – this mama gets tired and a bit overwhelmed sometimes.

So when I read this verse, I had to go back and read it again. And then I needed to look at the Hebrew definitions for the words I read because somehow I had always missed this and needed to know the depth of this promise. “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” Is 40:11

I’ve always read that verse as one sheep-Shepherd relationship – but this morning I saw the last words: “He gently leads those that have young” – and my heart jumped when I realized He means me! He’s not just a Shepherd for the flock (the masses) or for the lambs, but He sees us mamas in all our chaos – and He GENTLY leads!

Literally it means “to the nursing ewes, He leads, gives rest, leads with care, guides to a watering place or station, causes to rest, brings to a station or place of rest, guides, refreshes”

This isn’t just a “pointing the way” God … this is a Shepherd who sees our exhausted bodies and burdened spirits and tends to our weary souls. He promises refreshment, nourishment, guidance, and a watering hole. Another definition puts it like this: “to run with a sparkle, to protect, sustain:—carry, feed, guide, lead (gently, on)”

Oh how my spirit needed this today – to know that I am seen in all I carry as a mother – and to know it matters to Him, and to open my heart to His promises that reach right into that very specific place.

I hope you are refreshed and strengthened by that as much as I am today! Take heart, tired mamas! You’re not alone.

Sometimes the story just writes itself around you and you don’t even know it’s happening. Then one day, you smell that heavenly aroma and it all comes back.

There’s nothing quite like it – that smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread. You may try to break it all down to science and molecules, but I will fight you to the end over it. That smell is pure magic. It communicates all the things in one whiff – comfort, provision, nourishment. It somehow symbolizes everything we need – physically and emotionally.

And there she stood over that counter – kneading the dough. My amazing mom – faithfully providing for her family. I saw the picture this week and it all came rushing back to me. There was no Walmart in the steamy jungles of Liberia – there was simply flour, water, and her hands. So she kneaded that dough, she baked the loaves, and we ate that bread. Day after day, week after week. It nourished our bodies then – and today it nourishes my soul.

I think about those frantic Israelite mothers in Egypt – the time comes to go, and what do they do? They grab their bread, some just had dough, and flee Egypt for the Promised Land. Those children would eat, because their mom packed the bread! As a child, there is so much comfort in that – so much security knowing that you will be cared for.

There is another bread – one that is offered at the altar in the Tabernacle throughout the Israelite’s wanderings in the desert. And later in the Temple in Jerusalem – throughout the history of the Israelite people, The Bread of the Presence has served as a symbol that acknowledged God as life and nourishment.

Hundreds of years later, Jesus held bread. And broke it. And fed 5,000 people with only 2 loaves. He never runs out, does He?

And then come these astonishing words: “Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35

Can we all get back to that simple place once again? The place of a child who needs nourishment as simple as bread? Bread that satisfies to the fullest. Bread that comforts and nourishes. Bread that heals all our brokenness. Bread that feeds all our needs – physical and emotional. Bread that never runs out.

Taste and see… and be satisfied.

Tag: mom

Run with a sparkle

Bread of Life