Mothers’ Day : I Can’t Do this Alone!

Mother’s Day Message

I Can’t Do this Alone: A Mom’s Need for the Holy Spirit’s Power
Hebrews 4: 16
A Message by Rev Irene Lim on 10 & 11 May 2008

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Introduction:

This year’s Mother’s Day has a great significance because it falls on Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost Sunday, which marks the end of the Easter season in the Christian calendar, celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. John the Baptist prophesied of the first Pentecost where Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11). Jesus confirmed this prophesy with the Holy Spirit to the disciples in John 14:26. On the Day of Pentecost, just as promised, the violent wind filled the house and tongues of fire came to rest on each of them and all were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Today, in many Christian churches, the Pentecost Sunday is celebrated to recognize the gift of the Holy Spirit, realizing that God’s very life, breath and energy lives in believers.

The celebration also reminds us of the reality that:

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>We are all God-breathe with the unifying Spirit that was poured out upon the First Church in Acts 2:1-4.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>We are co-heirs with Christ, to suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him (Romans 8:17)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>The Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead lives inside believers
(Romans 8:9-11).

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>We are all baptized by one Spirit into one body (I Cor. 12:13)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>The promise is not only for you but your children and for all who are far off whom the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:39).

How awesome it is for Jesus to fill us with the Holy Spirit. I can’t go through the journey of mothering alone, I need the help and power of the Holy Spirit. To me it is not by coincidence that Mother’s day falls on Pentecost Sunday this year because I experience a lot of challenges in my motherhood. For the years past, I was so sure I have a message to share with you. For this year I am so overwhelmed with so many difficulties, I thought I don’t have any message for you. But thanks be to God for God is faithful, the Holy Spirit encourages my heart and spirit, reminding me just like He reminded the apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 12:9-10 “My grace is sufficient is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Moms know they need help. At some point in our journey as moms, the daunting task of rearing a child to be a responsible, independent adult—as well as a loving, influential servant of God—hits us full force. It is a sobering reality.

“Children. To me the very word sparkles with life and laughter! From babies to teenagers, children teem with energy. And each one of them represents a life of potential—for our Lord and for mankind. Nothing demands that we lean on the Lord more than parenting.” Elizabeth George

But we can tap into the power of the Holy Spirit to receive power for our problems, comfort for our heartaches, and refreshment for our weariness. When Jesus explained to his followers that he would have to leave them soon, he comforted them with this promise: I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth . . . He dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17 NKJV).

How then do we depend on the Holy Spirit?

<!–[if !supportLists]–>I. <!–[endif]–>A Mom Who Depends on the Holy Spirit Submits Completely to God’s Will

When Mary was only a teenager, she was confronted with the challenges to be completely submitted to God’s will. When Gabriel gave her the angelic message that she was to carry the Christ, Mary was stunned.

Luke 1: 34-38 reads “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “Since I am a virgin?” The angel answered “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said, “Then the angel left her.

The key phrase? “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be . . .”

Mary never wavered from her complete submission to God’s will.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Was she nervous? Certainly

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Was she unsure of her own abilities? Who wouldn’t be?

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Was she anxious about the prophecy that part of her future would include pain? Of course.

Mary was a little like the mother who sits up late at night, far past her bedtime, waiting for her daughter to come home. She was like the father who said the silent, heart-felt prayer as he watched his child drive away from the house, taking all those raw instincts into streets of great danger. Mary was like any parent in this auditorium, who wanted only the best, only the most protection, for her child and fully aware that life happens, and not all of life is pleasant.

But Mary was unlike a lot of parents in the world today. Mary was first of all completely committed to God. She was so committed to God, she has no room for commitment to anything else and that made her a mother worth imitating.

What does submitting or surrendering mean?

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Humbling ourselves before the God of the universe

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Giving up our efforts to change others and letting God change us instead

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Not insisting on having our own way, but instead submitting to God’s way

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Admitting that God is all-powerful and placing our lives under his control

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Admitting that God is King and placing our lives under His righteous rule

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Submitting to God’s way of doing things even when we don’t understand

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Seeking God’s Kingdom and putting God first in our lives

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Praying, “I want your will, not mine”

<!–[if !supportLists]–>v <!–[endif]–>Becoming childlike in our obedience to God, our heavenly Father

Submitting to God’s will is recognizing God as the supreme authority. King David understood God as the supreme King. Before God, he saw himself as a child. He wrote,

Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with matters too great or awesome for me. But I have stilled and quieted myself, just as a small child is quiet with its mother. Yes, like a small child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:1-2

(Testimony: Interview Tiffany and Daren)

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II. A Mom who Depends on the Holy Spirit Does Not Have to be Perfect

A survey was done on a dozen of moms to identify the most difficult issues they face in their role as a parent. These are the ones most often mentioned:

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Dealing with discipline issues

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Coping with sibling rivalry

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Coping with their own guilt over mistakes they have made

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Trying to instill spiritual values in their children’s lives (and often feeling a failure at the job)

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Helping their children deal with disappointment in not reaching a desired goal

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Dealing with a child’s chronic illness or depression

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Helping their children fit in with their peer group

<!–[if !supportLists]–>· <!–[endif]–>Setting kids free to have their own experiences with God

No doubt you can identify with one or more of these issues that moms everywhere wrestle with from time to time. Moms have made mistakes in the past, you will certainly make a mistake or two today, and you will make more mistakes tomorrow. Through it all, God will love you, work with you and accept you. Through it all, your task of mothering or grand-mothering will be accomplished.

Illustration: This year I face the challenge of helping my children to face with their disappointments and their doubts of God’s dealings in their lives. I also faced the struggle of letting them have their own encounter with God. I went through the agony of seeing one of my children going through sickness. On top of that I am anxious about the finances for their education. I also have to cope with the pressure of my own studies.

It is all right to admit you have not achieved perfection . . . that you have rough edges. Truthfully, we don’t know of a “perfect mom” anymore than we know of a “perfect child.”

Question: Why do moms try so hard to do so many things for the children and the family? We want to be perfect moms.

Why do we send our children to so many tuition classes and other classes?
We want our children to be perfect.

But we can have as our goal becoming a mom who is sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Becoming means “to grow to be” or “to come to be.” Thus we can say we are in the process of becoming a Spirit-led mom.

The Holy Spirit brings Christ to us through the Good News. Upon doing this, the Spirit starts to re-create you : a New You, being remade to have the character of Christ. This New You, empowered with new gifts from the Spirit, willingly works with the Holy Spirit on this re-making project. The Old You is still in there, fighting these changes every step of the way, but the New You co-operates with the Spirit.

Romans 7:18-19
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want. Galatians 5: 16

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6

Sure, there may be days when you feel you’re a failing at the task. But the important thing is not to focus on your mistakes. Instead you can learn from them, humble yourself to ask God—and sometimes your children –for forgiveness, and then give thanks to him for helping you improve until you see more than failures.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>II. <!–[endif]–>A Mom Who Depends on the Holy Spirit Never Quits

John 19: 25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother . . .

Mary did not stand stoically and passively by the foot of the cross, as if she were already made out of stained glass. She crumpled at the cross. She fell down to the depths there, moaning and wailing and begging the God of heaven to stop her hell on earth.

The truth o Simeon’s prophecy at the birth of Jesus was suddenly true. The cross cut deeply into Mary’s heart. Despite the pain, however, Mary was there. She was a mother from the beginning, and a mother at the end. A mother who depends on the Holy Spirit never quits.

You will find mothers like that in the halls of children’s hospital, in funeral homes and in the counselors’ offices. Mothers and fathers who are single, who have to single- handedly bring up their children. They have to juggle between work and parenting. Mothers never relinquish the title, even if the child is rebellious, harsh, or cruel. Her heart just will not allow it. Not when she is called by God.

When a woman becomes a mother, a man becomes a father, there is an instant realization that the day will almost certainly come when pain dominated the picture. The crosses are different for every family, but frankly, the crosses usually come. There may be a divorce, or sickness or death. There may be harsh words and unacceptable actions. There may be tough love and impossible nights. Through it all, mothers who depend on the Holy Spirit never quits, never. There is nothing like a mother’s love.

Mary had a chance to see God’s entire plan played out. She suffered through the crucifixion, celebrated the resurrection and even was part of the small group that witnessed the powerful presentation of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts1:4). What a gift from God, to live long enough for parenting to make sense! Some parents live long enough to see God’s plan for their children. Some see God working in the lives of their grandchildren. Some surely only see God’s plan from the halls of heaven.

You may think that today message is not for you because you are not a mother. How about letting God raise you up to be a spiritual mom, to nurture another Christian in their faith?

(Illustration: The card that I receive on “Knowing You Are There”)

Conclusion

Moms, you may be going through some struggles with yourself, your marriage or your children at this moment. I am also going through some rough times in my motherhood. One thing I am sure, I have the Holy Spirit who helps me, strengthens me, and empowers me. As I submit my will to Him recognize that I am imperfect and never give up on my children, the Holy Spirit is telling me that He believes in me and I can believe in my children.

I wan to conclude with the story of Teddy Stallard, with the encouragement from the Holy Spirit that He believes in you and you can make a difference in your children lives and the lives of many “spiritual children”.

Mom, submit yourself completely to God’s Will

Mom, you do not have to be perfect

Mom, do not quit

God believes in you and He knows you can make a difference in your children’s lives and the lives of others.

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