By Kate Ledbetter
I Samuel 1:11, 22, 24-28
As a mother you never realize how many times you'll have to take your hands off of your children as you give them back to the Lord. When you're pregnant it seems simple-just give them to God. When they are newborns and you hand them to the preacher at the dedication service, it's not hard to give them to the Lord. In sicknesses, when you pray over their fevered bodies, you remove your hands once more and rest them in the care of the Heart Physician. As your children grow, you will give them again and again and again knowing the Lord is Who they need. However, there will be those times that you are going to struggle.
On the days when they choose sin over the Saviour, you are going to struggle. You will want to lecture them, preach to them, punish them, or at the least shake them to their senses. How could this once precious baby now be a better sinner than you ever thought of being? How do you save them from the destructive path they seem set to run down? Your mind will run a million miles an hour as you try in your own strength to pull them from this dark path. Then, the precious Saviour will whisper to your weary heart, "Sweet momma, let go. This child is mine. You gave them to Me. I am in control." This will be a hard one to let go of. If you love the Lord, you will trust Him.
The Word of God is clear in this verse: Genesis 3:16 “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
Two different words in the Hebrew are used to describe the word "sorrow” in this verse. The first word means "worrisome.” The second description of “sorrow” means "painful toil; pang.” The woman's curse is that worry will be multiplied. I do not think it's a coincidence that "and conception;" follows this sorrow. Children can bring worry. You may be thinking at this point, "What kind of encouragement is this?" Keep reading. It will come together in the end.
We live in a world that's been determined to do away with the curse of man from the beginning. There is not much we have even tried to embrace about the curse because in our flesh we act as if we are above that curse. We think we do not deserve it. Eve did! The mother of all living should definitely have to bear the weight of her sin, but surely I am not as bad as she! I would not have eaten the forbidden fruit! Those are thoughts I had once upon a time. Then, The Lord saved me. I began to fully understand that I am Eve's daughter. I undoubtedly would have chosen the same road she did.
How many times have I allowed the wickedness of the world, the flesh, and the devil to convince me? Convince me that I have a better course for my future even if it goes against the Word of God? The curse is mine. With that I have a choice, I can embrace the curse by submitting to it, or I can fight against it. If I embrace it, I must understand that sorrow is multiplied in a woman's life.
Sorrow may come through my children. I have only one hope. That hope is giving my sorrow to my Saviour. He can bear what I cannot.
Hannah brought her sorrow to the Lord. She was looked at in her sorrow and misunderstood. In giving her future child to God, she was setting herself up for future sorrow. Why? Because one day she would have to leave Samuel with Eli - a preacher who was overlooking his own children's sin. She had to give Samuel back to the Lord again, again, and again.
The truth will always be that Esau and Jacob can both come from the same womb and make very different choices in life. One might be led close to The Lord and the other very far away. Our children will never be sinless and perfect. The weapon we have is giving them into the hands of the Lord and leaving them there. They are worth letting Him have.
Sweet momma, you may be broken today. Your sorrow might be multiplied by your own children. It is a sorrow like no other, a hurt so deep that only God can understand. He has had so many turn their backs on the Truth He gives them freely. Time and time again, those who say they know Him, love Him, and are His children have rejected Him.
He knows your burden. Cast your care upon Him. Give Him your children again and again and again. He's got this!