Hope and Help For the Trials of Motherhood

An Introduction

For many years now, 1 Peter 5:5-11 has been a favourite passage of mine in times of difficulty. The apostle Peter knew much about suffering, but also much about Christ's glory revealed (1 Peter 5:1), and in the letter of 1 Peter, God uses him to both instruct his church on how to suffer well, and to encourage his church in the midst of suffering with the hope of the Gospel. The whole book is wonderful, but this little passage at the end of the letter is crammed full of wise commands and precious promises! I was reading it again the other day, and was once again struck by how applicable every single verse here is to the mother in trial (something I've been thinking about a fair bit recently because of several discussions with friends on that topic). Even if you're not a mother, you certainly have trials in life, so this will apply to you to, just with different details in application. So I thought it might be helpful to write out some of my thoughts on this over the course of a few blog posts (doing it in smaller chunks means it's more likely to get done!). This post will serve as a brief introduction, and then I'll work my way through it over the next several weeks. Here, for your benefit, is the passage:

^"5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

⁶  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. ⁸  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. ¹⁰ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹  To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Motherhood is Hard

Any mother can attest to this, whether they've been a mother for 40 years, or only a few hours. In fact, any pregnant woman can already tell you that motherhood has its share of difficulty! Whether it's vicious morning sickness, birth pains, sleepless nights, exhausting days, defiant toddlers, fighting siblings, endless laundry and food prep, sickness, financial burdens, or the mother's own sin and failure resting heavily on her mind, motherhood is full of pain. This is a direct result of the curse of sin (Genesis 3:16), and every mother since Eve is no stranger to suffering. Even the best of days are not really carefree. And the temptation is to run away, to hide in solitude, to wallow in self-pity, to gossip about the failures of others to make you feel better about your own, or to just fall into despair and pray that age 18 will come soon and those trouble-making kids will leave you alone (not that motherhood ends at 18). But God's hope for every mother is much more than a life of enduring, grinding existence until her sad life is done and she goes to her grave. Much more! And 1 Peter 5 gives us wisdom to walk in and hope to cling to, so that we can be joy-filled, humble, confident, loving, serving mothers who glorify our God and Saviour.