The Lord laid on my heart an idea to write about lessons we can learn from Jesus’ mama and her journey through motherhood.
With Mother’s Day quickly approaching, I am grateful the Lord put this on my heart because it can be really hard for so many. Whether battling infertility, secondary infertility, a broken relationship, or the loss of their mother, there are a lot of emotions that surround this day.
I pray this post helps us to focus on God’s Word and the powerful journey through motherhood Mary took and the lessons we can learn as she raised, nurtured, and loved Jesus as His mama.
Lessons from Mary’s Motherhood Journey
Mary, Jesus’ mother was a simple girl who came from a simple home and was engaged to a simple man. Then one night, an angel of the Lord came with a life-changing message from God.
It wasn’t that she would suddenly be among the noble in her community, or that she would instantly have all the money she needed, (she would actually probably face some backlash.)
But, she would mother the Savior of the world.
The Savior her people had been hoping and praying for since He was promised by God generations before. She would carry the Messiah in her very own womb.
Mary thought this was impossible because she hadn’t yet experienced what it took for conception to happen since she was still a virgin.
Even though she voiced her concern and questions, the angel of the Lord gently reminded her what I’m sure she already knew in her head that, “nothing is impossible with God.”
That brings me to our first lesson we can learn from Mary’s motherhood.
1. Mary had to believe in the power of God and His plan.
Mary believed in God, and she knew in her mind everything He could do as she had lived her entire life being told stories that had been passed down from generations and generations of God’s people. She, too, was also waiting for God’s promised Messiah. Then she learned that she would be the one who would get to watch Him grow as He carried out God’s Will to save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21).
I imagine that she was curious, scared, and anxious. What would people think? How would they treat her? Those who knew her knew she was simply engaged to Joseph. It was actually unlawful for her to be pregnant. (Deuteronomy 22:19b-21). She faced stoning. But, God provided confirmation from the angel of the Lord to both Mary and Joseph that yes, God can make this happen, and her baby would be the long-awaited Messiah.
What area of your life do you need to believe in the power of God and His perfect plan?
At Jesus’ birth, God chose a group of shepherds out in a field to be the first to receive the good news. An angel of the Lord appeared and told them the joyful news. Then the heavens rejoiced with thousands of angels that filled the night sky above the shepherds. (Luke 2:8-20)
The shepherds were overcome with wonder and thrill that they hurried to the lowly stable where Mary and Joseph were marveling over their newborn Son.
The shepherds told Mary all that they had been told from the angel of the Lord, and then they were so excited that they could not keep the news to themselves. They went out and told everyone about the birth of Jesus, but Mary treasured what they had told her.
2. Mary treasured the Word of God.
Mary knew what Jesus’ birth meant. She remembered all that she had been told the night the Holy Spirit came upon and created life inside her womb. But, perhaps she thought His birth would be as simple as the life they had lived so far. Or maybe it would seemingly stay under the radar until He was older and not an infant.
But then the shepherds came running. Running to see the newborn King, the Savior of the world. And they found them just as the angel had said. They told Mary everything that was said through the angel from God the Father.
Mary treasured the words that shepherds told her that night about her Son. She held onto them with all her heart because it was another fulfilled example that God’s plan will always come to fruition.
Mary’s motherhood journey was just starting, and she didn’t know how it would unfold, but we do. We know that everything she was told, everything that was prophesied about her Son coming to save the world, happened. We now have God’s Word, a real Book that is alive today that we too, can treasure.
Do you treasure the Word of God?
When Jesus was twelve, He and His parents went on their yearly visit to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. (Luke 2:41-52)
After the festivities were over, they were heading back home, but Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph thought Jesus was with them as they began to travel back, but He wasn’t.
Instead He stayed back in the temple and began to teach the teachers and elders. Those who had studied the Law their entire lives were being taught by the twelve year old Jesus.
Jesus didn’t have to study God’s Word because He knew it. He wrote it. Jesus is God, therefore He was able to explain to the teachers and answer their various questions.
What a gift that must have been to ask Jesus face to face questions about scripture.
Mary, of course, was distraught after looking for Him for three days. And like any mother, she wanted to know why had He put them through the turmoil of anxiously searching for Him.
Jesus knew that He had a special relationship with God. So Jesus simply answered, “Why were you searching for Me? Didn’t you know that I would be in my Father’s house?”
Verse 50 tells us that Mary and Joseph did not understand what He meant. Mary knew that Jesus was God’s Son, but she was still responsible for raising Him and caring for Him.
3. Mary had to trust God’s plan.
Mary did not know what all Jesus’ life and mission on earth would entail. She had been given clues and hints, but she was learning as she was going along.
Just like you and me friend. We take each day one at a time, and look to God for peace on the hard days, contentment with our current season of life, and joy through all of it.
None of us know God’s plan for our lives, Mary didn’t either as she was living it out. We do not know what each day will bring. But, we rest in the hope that one day we will see Jesus face to face.
Into adulthood, Jesus began His earthly missionary work. He had a lot to do during His time prior to the cross, but He loved being with people. He was invited to attend a wedding banquet along with His disciples and mother, Mary. (John 2:1-11)
Mary came to Jesus and told Him the wine was gone. I’m not sure if she was expecting Him to do a miracle or not, or maybe she was hoping He would simply find some more wine. Jesus’ response may throw us off guard, but I think that encourages us to dig deeper.
“My time has not yet come,” was Jesus’ response to Mary’s statement. While she did not understand what He meant by that, she told the servants to, “do whatever He tells you.”
4. Mary submitted to Jesus’ way of handling the situation, and patiently waited for Him to reveal Himself.
Mary had no idea how Jesus would handle the almost crisis of running out of wine. This would have been very embarrassing for the hosting family. Mary was heartfelt in her reaching out to Jesus.
But, Mary had to submit her desire for Jesus to “fix” the situation. She had to submit her ideas on how she thought He should handle the problem.
Instead of telling Him what needed to be done, she simply submitted the need to Him. Then, she patiently waited for Him to reveal Himself through His first miraculous sign, thus revealing His glory.
The time had finally come for the culmination of Jesus’ life on earth. He hung on the cross, battered, beaten, and bloodied. Mary looked up at her Son, the man that was once the baby she had given birth to. The man who performed countless miracles to show those around Him He truly was the Son of God. She looked up at her baby boy hanging on the cross, and she had to surrender everything. (John 19:25-27)
5. Mary had to surrender her heart to the will of God.
Mary had to lay her entire heart at the feet of Jesus. She had to fully surrender everything at the foot of the cross.
Motherhood, and for some even the journey to motherhood, is messy. At times it’s unbelievably hard, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, draining, terrifying, but also awe-inspiring, joyful, and full of so much love you think your heart might burst. Motherhood stretches us beyond what we ever thought we could handle, it matures us. Motherhood changes us.
But, what’s better is that these lessons can be applied to any area and season of life we are in. These are lessons we can take away from Mary’s motherhood and journey in raising the Messiah to encourage us wherever we are today.
None of us will ever know what it was like to live as Mary did. To see her own Son be nailed to a cross and murdered to cover the sins and eternally save those who put their faith in Him.
We walk through and deal with a lot of hard stuff in our lives. All of us in different ways. In different capacities. But, as we look at scripture we can find lessons that Mary walked through, and prayerfully we can learn.
Mary encourages us to fully surrender ourselves to Jesus.
She inspires us to live with open hands, not clenched fists as we navigate this one life we have been given.
Mary pushes us to look past our circumstances and keep our eyes on Jesus.
Mary challenges us to live in complete trust of God’s will and to treasure His life-giving Word in our hearts.
I am praying for you today. Whether you are in the thick of motherhood or the heartache of desperately wanting to be in the thick of motherhood.
You are known, you are seen, you are loved.
In Him, Tamara
