Matthew 23:37 (LEB)   

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How many times I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her young together under her wings, and you were not willing!   

God designed mothers after HIS heart. In the creation of man and women, HE designed both male and female after HIS image. And in Matt 23:37 Jesus is saying that He is wanting to take the children of Israel and gathering them under HIS protection just as a hen (mother chicken) does. Mothers reflect God’s heart in the way they love and protect their children.  

His care, concern and protection are seen in the word “gathered.” The picture of a hen’s gathering her chickens under her wings is the picture of care and protection. The very purpose of Jesus and the Holy Spirit is to gather and keep a person from wandering around and facing the dangers of the world all alone. And that is what mothers feel and do, gather their children together and protect them.  

God wants to give us peace, comfort, hope, security, and salvation; but we must be willing. It is not that God cannot. Is there anything too hard for God to do? And yet God will allow you to reject Him and keep Him at arm's length. Allow God to be our protector. Many times, we are like little chicks who do not respond to the protection that their mother gives them  

I thank God for my mother and for the mother of my children. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers this weekend! 

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

    and by night, but I find no rest.

Psalm 22:1-2 (ESV)

In his song “The Silence of God, Andrew Peterson writes:

It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith

It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane

When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod

And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God

Have you ever, after considerable prayer and crying out experienced the silence of God? I believe there are times in the Scriptures where people experienced this silence – search the Word – can you find any?

Did Jesus experience the silence of God? Peterson goes on to write about a time when Jesus may have experienced the silence of God. Two instances where Jesus might have experienced the silence of God were in the garden, and on the cross.

What have you done in those times when God has seemed silent when you sought His answer? How did you feel? Did it challenge your faith and sanity as Peterson suggests? It would be wise to see what Jesus did in both instances – He continued to cry out to God and pray. 

Keep the faith. Press on. Don’t lose heart. Ask your brothers and sisters close to you for prayer. Keep praying! In spite of the silence, the Lord cares for us, and loves us.

               When we go on vacation, no matter the destination, there are usually multiple routes we can take to arrive at our destination.  Every spring, our family makes a trip to Florida. We have two main routes to choose from when we leave our home to get to Florida, but there are many secondary routes also. No matter the route we choose, the end result is the same. We eventually arrive at our destination. However, that isn’t the case if we desire Heaven to be our final destination. There is only one route to Heaven. John 14:5-6 says: “Thomas saith unto Him, Lord we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life and no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” The world will tell us that there is more than one way that we can take to get to Heaven and we can be deceived by the many different paths it offers. We need to check our GPS, the Bible, regularly to make sure we are on the correct route and following Jesus so that our final destination is Heaven. Unlike the GPS in our car that sometimes can take us the wrong direction, the Bible will never lead us in the wrong direction. Are you striving to make Heaven your final destination? What route are you trying to use to reach it? Is it Jesus or something else? Jesus is the only road to Heaven so make sure you are traveling with Him.  

By Elton Gingerich