APPRECIATING THE LOVE OF MOTHERS OR WOMEN, Rev Mrs Mary Fosu

Reflective Message for Honouring Mothers and Women on Mother’s Day

TEXT: EXODUS 2:1-10

Introduction

“Behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begin”- Mitch Albom

Behind the stories of great lives, great achievers, and every man or woman is the real stories of their mothers.

The book of exodus opens with a great man named Moses (Exodus 2). Moses became a hero, the leader of God’s people- Israel, the man who saw God face to face, the law giver. Moses is mentioned 705 times in the OT and 79 times in the NT.

The fact of Moses’ heroism starts with the bravery, wisdom, faith and the strategy of his mother Jochebed. Jochebed’s name doesn’t sound familiar to most Bible readers and Christians.   Aaron, Miriam and Moses are her children. )wo atitire, i.e, she gave birth to great men and women.

                    The writer of Hebrews tried to rescue the situation when he mentioned her among the hall of fame in Heb. 11:23.

                   Lack of recognition for women’s contribution

                       – One of the greatest challenges women go through is lack of recognition. The world has been a patriarchal world ever since. The Jewish culture saw women as inferior. For women could not own property, greet even in public, were not counted and men prayed thanking God for not making them women.

                       – Jesus came to revolutionaries or change the system moving with women, talking to women, even Samaritans, not judging women, refused to see them as inferior and treated them with dignity. Luke13:12, John 4, John 8: 3-11, John 8: 43-48, Luke 8:1-3- women were in his team.

                        Upon all Jesus came to do, our societies and its system still work against women.

 I remember an article that I read some time ago: “Surviving in the man’s world: the agony of the African woman.” Most women are only surviving the hard way because it is a man’s world.

                        Jochebed and her husband Amram were among the crop of Israelites who had been made slaves in Egypt the Pharoah who felt they were a threat to the security of his Kingdom. Not getting anywhere, Pharaoh decreed that any male child born to an Israelite should be killed.

                    The challenge of pregnancy and child birth that mothers go through

                        It was in these times that Amram and Jochebed conceived Moses. There were no scan machines to detect the child was a boy or girl. Jochebed knew that if her bawas male, it would be a great challenge.

                     This pregnant woman had double trouble- the pregnancy itself with its physiological changes brings a challenge, then the psychological challenges, the thought that her child might be killed.

The pain, the lost of appetite, the hypremises- vomiting and spitting. The delivery day trauma- normal delivery or caesarian- are all a matter of life and death. In caesarian cases you never get used to the theatre, it’s like the Christian and fasting- you never get used to it, and yet mothers enter gladly to bring out life- damning the consequences.

Jochebed was fortunate to have a man standing her. There are many women who have stood alone in these difficult times because their men have either run away or are careless.

Some women have endured and are still enduring in marriage just for the sake of their children, “me mma yi nti”.

The mothers love will let her do anything for her children.

Jochebed was compelled love to risk her life

Jochebed gave birth and lo and behold it was a son. How could she stand to see her son die? This must have been her most difficult moment in life.

Jochebed risked her life to keep her baby. She could have incurred the wrath of Pharoah if found out but she didn’t mind. As the bagrew his lungs grew, so Jochebed could not hide him any longer.

She started to think of the many ways she could save her child.

• Mothers risk their lives for their children daily
• Always remember that at the labour ward, your mothers, your wives risk their lives daily.

Women: never brand your mother-in-law as a witch. Never incite your husband against her mother. Awo) 3ya.

Don’t frown your face when you see her, she risked her life to give you a husband.

Women/mothers go through hustle for the sake of their children.

• Those women sitting on the pavement at Bantama, Suame are doing it for their families.
• To put food on the table.
• To pay hospital bills.
• To pay school fees. Though some of them are illiterate, They understand the values education.
• To protect their love ones.
• Mothers run helter skelter all for the comfort of their families.
• They deny themselves comfort so that their families will be comfortable.
• Some of us our mothers sold their clothes to pay our school fees. Never forget your mothers.

• Jochebed went through psychological, emotional, physical trauma to get Moses alive. She went through days of sleepless nights.

Jochebed was a woman of prayer

She put the bain a papyrus basket coated with tar and pitch and put him at the bank of River Nile, under the supervision of Miriam. I believe that through it all this Jewish woman with unwavering faith in Yahweh prayed. Her prayer and efforts, coupled with the faithfulness of God saved Moses.

Most of us here are standing tall in society today because of our mothers prayers, hard work, positive spirit, and godly influence.

We often talk about women moving from one prayer meeting to the other. What are they looking for?

The answer is simple: their children and husbands are their prayer topics.

Abraham Lincon says “I remember my mother’s prayers and they have aways followed me. They have clung to me all my life”.

Brault Robert says “If you have a mother, there is nowhere you are likely to go that prayer has not already been there”.

• You are who you are today because of your mother’s travailing prayers, your wives unrelenting prayers.
• Appreciate them today.
• Thank God for their lives.

Jochebed had a strong conviction that his son was destined for greatness.

This woman felt within her spirit that her son was a great man and so she could not let him die. She did all that she could to protect him. Mothers/women have a strong intuition. They see things from afar.

Never despise their advice. Mothers/wives see it when they sense that their children or husbands are being drawn to the wrong path. They see danger coming from afar. Usually when women caution their husbands of what they sense, most men ignore them but thank God they always come back to tell their story. Women have always been a strong power behind their families.

Jochebed is a model of faith.

Her strong faith and total trust in God led her to do all she did. The faith to hold onto Moses in the mist of danger, the faith that did not give up her son.

Mothers/women have always been spiritual giants to their families. They have influential faith. Faith that draws their families to God. Women are not only full of faith but they are loyal followers. The women who followed Jesus demonstrated total loyalty and faith in Christ even unto the cross and beyond.

But for women’s faith in God and loyalty to God and his church, most church auditoriums would be empty. They have the numbers; they are very visible and can always be counted on. Today, the pastors salute all women in the church.

Jochebed was not only a woman of faith, but a godly woman. She knew God and feared him. When she got the opportunity to raise Moses, she put the law of the Lord into him, she trained him to always remember that he belongs to Yahweh. She raised a hero, a friend of God.

Here godly life reminds us of the example Lois and Eunice, Timothy’s grandmother and mother who lived their faith such that Timothy became a Christian and a pastor.

Conclusion:

Today, these and many others give us the cause to celebrate, to salute, to pamper and to spoil our mothers, our wives and all women who have impacted our lives.

Let the church and everyone understand that mothers, women are special, they brighten our lives, they have unique abilities. Mothers make the world a beautiful place to live,

-Respect the woman

 –  Appreciate them

  – Do away with the typical traditional mentality that sees the woman as insignificant.

Their voices matter, we need them everywhere.

Women/mothers: don’t let anybody put you in any category. You are not a second-class human being. You make the world beautiful. You are an important part of your families, the church and the nation. Any family, society, church or nation that fails to appreciate the worth of mothers/women and what God can do with them and through them will be half strong.

 Mothers: you are the Jochebed’s of our time and on this day, we salute you!