May 12

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”   —PSALM 139:13

Mother’s Day is a day of joy and thanksgiving; a day when children celebrate their moms and moms their children, but the truth is we live in a tough, complex world, and it isn’t that way for every mom.

For most of us, our first place of belonging is our family; it’s our home, but the Bible tells us where we first belonged. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” The moment life started is a total mystery to us, and we will never understand what it is that triggers that life other than God Himself. The womb we were placed in was God’s choice, not ours and not even our mom’s. Before we became our mother’s child, we were the child of our Heavenly Father. The Bible doesn’t tell us we are perfect, but that we are planned by God, placed by God and precious to Him. God knows the journey can be treacherous for both mother and child, and it’s becoming more treacherous in a world where we value, celebrate and even demand perfection.

Though every child is planned by God, there are many inclined to judge those who don’t measure up. Sometimes it isn’t until we have a child who doesn’t measure up to what we’d hoped for that we are introduced to God Himself, and God graciously reveals that it’s mom and dad who don’t measure up. God places every child in this world with love and purpose. No matter how different, handicapped or ill a child may be, he or she is not only loved by God, but God lives in that child. And through that child, we gain tremendous insight into the depth and wonder of God’s love.

We are usually more comfortable being around people who look and act like us, but there’s nothing special in that. The prefix ‘dis’ mostly carries negative connotations – disabled, discouraged, disgruntled, disruptive, dishonourable, disturbed, disreputable, disappointed, disobedient, but here’s a twist on the “dis” from Jesus Himself. “If you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31). “By this, all men will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The truly handicapped are those who cannot see beyond what they’d hoped for to the person who is “wonderfully made”. For in God’s eyes, nobody’s a nobody. We are all His treasures, created by Him and loved by Him.

PRAYER: Precious Lord, May I never shy away from anyone with disabilities or is different in any way. Allow me to learn from them. They are wonderfully made, as You have made all of us. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: Does knowing that every child is a child of God, indwelt by Him and loved by Him, change my attitude and interaction with them?