Blakeyblog

There is no one like my own mother. She is the one who bore, nurtured and raised me to maturity. She is the one who loved me through late nights, sickness as I was growing up. She has spent endless time and great amounts of money to make my life the best that she could. No matter if I don’t return her love, she still loves me. My sisters and I used to say that only a mother can love you when you look bad, aren’t the most talented and actually are pretty average. But what I have learned is that a godly mothers love is not unconditional, it is better.

A godly mother does not just take her children as they are with faults and failures and imperfections. She nurtures them with discipline and guidance. She didn’t let me eat like an animal at the table and simply resolve that’s just the way the children are. She wanted me to have manners, be polite, dress appropriately, and be responsible. She wants me to be better than just who I naturally am. She wants me to be the best that I can be, who God wants me to be.

This is my mother. She has kept the command to “Train up a child in the way he should go.” She has shown me what it means to walk with the Lord and that living for Him is really living life. My mother’s love taught and directed my feet on the path I should follow. But it is up to me to follow it. It is up to me to learn. My mother is not perfect. Sometimes she was quick with me, sometimes she would yell. Sometimes she didn’t take time to understand all of my troubles. I am not a perfect child. I would be disrespectful, ignore her correction and give her grief. But through salvation we are able to put off our former ways of life and continually walk in a new way of life.

I have many memories of my mother. When I was young she read to me, prayed with me and helped me to grow. When I was a bit older she took me to my lessons and friends homes, she taught me how to cook and wanted me to have good attitudes. Sometimes she would sit me down and give me a lecture, because she saw that I was walking away from the “way I should go”. Sometimes I was stubborn. I was rude and would say things I shouldn’t have. Sometimes I wouldn’t say anything, to hurt her with my silence. When I was older still she would welcome me home from college with all of her love. She would stay up late nights with me hearing all I was learning there, watch movies I wanted to see, shop for hours and give me advice. I would call from my dorm and cry when I was lonely. Sometimes when I was busy I wasn’t faithful to call or write. Now I am grown, married and live hours away. Almost every day we talk and share closer now than any of the years before. We talk much about the Lord and how He is working in our hearts and minds. I ask for recipes, housekeeping tips and prayer. She challenges, encourages and listens with an open mind. She trained me and I followed. For so many years she provided, corrected and loved me with the expectation and hope that I would walk in the way I should go.

There is a Proverb that says, “Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her bore you rejoice.” (Proverbs 23:25) Some parents would love to rejoice over their children. But the children make foolish decisions, say hurtful things and disregard the law of God. There is no joy in this. This is not a call to simply do what your parents want or live to please them. It is a call to walk in the way you should go. In this is joy. When my mother disciplined me and corrected me, it was because she loves me (Proverbs 13:14). Wise and godly choices are what bring joy to my mother.

I am concerned that many children do not bring joy to their mothers. They reject the offer of this promise of peace and joy and instead bring their mothers pain, hurt and tears. An old Chinese woman at our church once shared with me that when she first went back to visit her family in China after moving to California they were so curious to know, “Do children in America really hate their parents?” Apparently American children have a reputation of being brash and disrespectful, bringing dishonor to their parents. She got up in front of our group of students and urged them to respect and honor their parents as the Word commands.

It’s been somewhat of a busy week. I haven’t had time to blog since Tuesday and that’s generally how I measure how busy it is at work. I’ve been planning a banquet for our high school seniors, Bobby and I played some tennis, I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading in my Jerry Bridges book and spending time with some friends. I have had so many things on my heart this week but I guess I can’t say it all.

When the circumstances seem busy or the people in my life demanding I sometimes get all knotted up and feel like I just need more time to do all the things I want to in a day. For example when am I supposed to have time to finish cleaning out my closet or to call my friend in Idaho or write on my blog? There doesn’t seem to be enough time for me to do all of these things. I read a very timely and profound statement by Elizabeth Eliott on another blog and it was somewhat of a wake-up call for me. It said, “There is always enough time to do the will of God.”

I guess this might seem obvious to some, that God has a sovereign will and all things work together in His plan. This I understand, but the way Eliott says it is that there is always enough time for me to do what God has set before me. This is a different concept; it says that there is no reason in the constraints of time that I would have to be disobedient. Sometimes we try to do so much and nothing is wrong with the things we’re doing, but we spread ourselves thin. I might become hasty in my response to someone or drive too fast because I’m running late. But there is always enough time in each day to walk obediently in God’s will. Time is not my enemy, it is the sin in my own heart in the ways that I am lazy or procrastinate or just don’t want to do some things because I’d rather do what I want to do. I can get so caught up in my own plans that I neglect the sovereign plan that I have been called to follow. James 4 tells us not to be all about being sure of our own plans and taking our time for granted for we do not know how brief our life on earth might be. Instead we should rely on and live for what the Lord wills. In verse 17, James shows just how closely we should be submitted to the Lord’s will for us. It’s not enough to just avoid sinful things, what are the godly things I am pursuing?