Pushing. Striving. Making it happen. Motherhood can be a white-knuckling-it kind of job, feeling like the duty and burden to produce “successful” children is all on my shoulders. There’s a small voice in the back of my head that sometimes dares to wonder: does God even care? Where is He while I’m trying so hard?
And then I read this passage that makes my mama-heart sigh in relief.
In view of this, we always pray for you that our God will make you worthy of His calling, and by His power fulfill your every desire to do good and your work produced by faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
We must know first “in view of” what? These verses follow a paragraph about Jesus’ victorious second coming. So, we must first consider our motherhood in view of eternity, in view of the overwhelming victory sure to come. I don’t know about you, but this is a more encouraging perspective than the one I usually have about being a mom. Hallelujah–thank you, Jesus!
When we consider eternity, then we learn it is fitting to pray for God to make us worthy of His calling on our lives–living up to the potential of our life of faith, living in a reputable manner that honors the gospel and our mission. Also, it is good to pray God would, by His power, accomplish EVERY DESIRE of ours to do GOOD (not harm) to our children and that He would honor our work produced by faith.
What a relief to my soul to know I can pray for God to fulfill my desire to be a blessing to my children as I strive to train them in righteousness. He wants to answer that prayer! He wants to honor my work! (Note: God does not endorse striving in my own strength, instead He is pleased with the good work accomplished in faith that He planned for me to do [Eph. 2:10]). Mama friends, this is good news!
But we cannot forget the SO THAT part of the verse. “So that” is always a flag to alert us to the ultimate purpose. Why do we confidently pray for God to answer our prayers for our children? It is in order that the name of Jesus will be glorified. That’s it. That must be the overarching passion of our heart as we mother our children.
Finally, our passage finishes off with a breath of fresh air: all of this is accomplished and fortified by the grace of God. His unconditional salvation-love for us in the person of Jesus is what upholds and accomplishes and enables our motherhood journey.
Dear Mama,
May your heart cease in its striving.
May you be encouraged in your prayers.
May you be upheld according to His grace.
And may you have eternity in sight.
