How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. Luke 13:34b
From the time the sun rises in the morning until my eyes close and my exhausted body finally gives in to sleep, my thoughts are of my children. A mother’s spirit is tightly woven together with her children. A mother’s heart is connected to her head, so she cannot let go. It is so hard to release them from our grasp and allow God to be in control. It is hard not to want to fix all their problems for them, to allow them to experience the natural consequences of their actions.
How much does a mother love her children? How many moments of her day are consumed with tasks for, or thoughts of her children? A lot of them! Our Heavenly Father loves us with a love like a mother’s love. Like a mother, God’s love is so great that his all-consuming passion is to sweep us up into his protective arms.
In the passage above from Luke, there is the image of a mother hen, with all her love and passion for her children, gathering them into her protective wings. This is excellent imagery of how a human mother and God loves their children and covers them under protective wings. This image of a protecting bird is found in Psalms and Deuteronomy, as well as in Isaiah.
What a wonderful image for God -- a hen gathering her brood -- for what is the cross but the love of God that is so great, so passionate, that it is willing to die so that his children might live? What is the cross but the gathering under the outstretched arms of God of all of her children? What is the cross but God's compassion for his stray and straying children and his longing to gather them under his arms? What is the cross, but a mother's love displayed as a Godly passion? That compassion has been an inspiration for godly lives ever since Calvary.
Like a mother, God sees far more clearly than do we, the children, the danger we are in. Like a mother, God knows we tend to over-estimate our powers and are prone to go off on our own, leaving the protective wings, to seek our own excitement and adventure. And like a mother, God chases after us. We are all invited under the protection of the out-stretched arms of Jesus and the cross to bask in the safety that God provides for us. He loves us like no other. His love cannot be driven away, we cannot out run it, and we can never do enough to earn it. He is loveand will love us for eternity.
Now all the dishes are washed, clothes folded, and toys picked up and it is time for sleep. As I lie in bed just before dozing off, the last thoughts on my mind are of my children. I pray that they will know you as their Lord and Savior. I pray that they will find success in school, life, and relationships, and that I, as their mother, may have wisdom and understanding for the next day. One day at a Time.
