What Does God Teach Us through the Hard Parts of Motherhood?

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I often say that God led me towards full-time mothering because he knew how challenging it would be for me. I'm not a natural at this gig. I get overwhelmed far too easily for a house that is now filled with six very loud and needy children. My patience runs thin more days than it stands firm. Anxiety over every decision I make as a Mom follows me around like a plague. I am a hot mess here, yet I am confident I am right where God wants me to be.

He is teaching me new lessons daily about who He is through this most thankless and endless of jobs. Truly, I could write a book about the wealth of wisdom I've accumulated over the past 13 years as a Mom, and the lessons keep coming. I have unfortunate news: despite over a decade of 24/7 practice at being a 'Good Mom,' I have yet to master this skill. I have a sneaking suspicion I will be called to continue this practice until the end of my life, still learning, failing, and still needing God's grace through it all.

God Teaches Us His Faithfulness

It's hard to even put into words how terrifying motherhood is. Your literal heart is walking around, with a still-developing brain, and a world full of chaos to navigate. When I became a Mom, I was confronted with a deep terror that unfolded in my heart. I really did not know if I could actually trust God with this child he had given me to care for.

While this season of unbridled fear was difficult to navigate, it became an opportunity to determine what I really believed about the world and who God is. I began to search the scriptures to learn more about what God had to say to me. I prayed that he would reveal his goodness to me on a radical level and show me how to trust his faithfulness as a parent and a person.

He answered my many questions and frequent prayers as I endured a seven-year battle with anxiety and depression, and continues to reveal how incredibly faithful he is through each new season we enter into as a family. A verse that spoke so personally to my heart and that I've latched onto is Isaiah 40:11. It promises," He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young."

God sees us on this holy journey of motherhood. He promises to gently lead us through every sleep regression, tantrum, school struggle, friendship, puberty, marriage struggles, driving tests, graduation celebrations, and more. You are never alone on this sacred journey; his grace is sufficient to meet our every need.

God Teaches Us the Value of Humble Service

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So much of mothering is not at all glamorous. The humbling process of motherhood starts right away when we navigate our first milk-soaked shirt in public or after we accidentally become the target for our kid's explosive diaper. There really is just nothing like it!

Then there are the million sacrifices you make as a Mom for your family that oftentimes go completely unseen. You give up a career to be present with your littles. You sacrifice your body to make space for new life. You let go of sleep. You are no longer "fun" because your brain is always on, considering the many needs of your family. For years, you never go anywhere alone, even to the restroom, because someone always needs you.

Then there are the other, more ordinary ways you serve your family: washing a million dishes, packing diaper bags, book bags, lunch bags, luggage bags, and pool bags, cleaning bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry, and vacuuming for your work to be ruined in less than five minutes. There is endless planning and preparing for each new season. Does everyone have what they need for Preschool? Elementary school? Middle school? High school? Sports? Friends? Etc.

It's years until our kids are big enough to actually say 'thanks, mom,' and even when they can say those words, they don't come out very often. Our kids are too busy learning, growing, and being themselves to consider all the ways you love them. Isn't this just the same way our Father cares for us? And we don't often stop to say thanks for the breath in our lungs or the beauty of the ocean! Yet he provides this and all that we need for life every day.

Romans 12:1 states, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."

Your service to your family, day in and day out, is your worship. Our children are eternal beings, and our investment in them has an eternal impact. They need us to train them up, showing them how to live as Christ followers so they don't lose their way (Proverbs 22:6).

Mothers Are Called to Be Obedient to The Lord

More than that, service is central to our faith. No matter who we are pouring into, really, it's God that we are being obedient to. My job as a mother is not to create perfect humans; it's to be obedient to God's call on my life and how that applies to my role as a mother.

There are many ways to mother. In my own story, I am a mother to three children through birth, one through adoption, and two who are awaiting adoption in foster care. Some of my kids homeschool, and some attend private school. For some of my kids, I worked full-time while they were babies; for others, I was home for their entire childhood; some of my kids attended Preschool, and others spent their days with me.

Through each of these seasons as a Mom, my job was to be obedient to the Lord in how he was calling and providing for me, as well as sensitive to what the Holy Spirit was revealing that each of my very unique children needed to thrive. To be honest, none of these setups were easy and all required different kinds of trusting, stretching, and sacrifice.

The same logic must be applied to how we judge ourselves as parents. We are raising unique humans with their own stories and struggles. At the end of the day, who they choose to be is entirely up to them. When we look back on the years we spent together under the same roof and how we, as parents, have chosen to navigate this formative time, our primary aim should be to serve the Lord as a family and as parents. If we are faithful to that mission, we will have succeeded as parents no matter who our grown children decide to be.

God's Beauty Is Present in the Hard Parts of Life

During my struggle with anxiety and depression, the thing that bothered me most was the fact that I knew I was so grateful for my life, so blessed, and so happy. Even so, I could not shake the cloud of fear and pain that followed me around for much too long. The great lesson in this paradox of emotions is that beauty, joy, and goodness often exist alongside our struggles.

Motherhood is so very challenging. There are moments when you feel like an utter failure. Sometimes you are so tired you're not sure how you can even make it to the end of the day. But even in those hard-pressed seasons, you feel the beauty of your children. The goodness of the gift of motherhood never fades. As moms, we are gifted a million moments in which we behold God's glory as we watch our kids grow.

It can be how that baby snuggles into your chest when they are exhausted. Later, it's watching them be brave enough to try new things! The joy that lights up their face when they get to create. Or those tiny PJs that make the heart soar. Every day, we have the chance to behold simple moments of pure joy and beauty. So even when a day feels endless and our child is insufferable, there will also be a moment when our hearts ache because they are now so big and we love them so much. God makes beautiful things out of us, out of our stories, even in this chaotic world. What a gift his grace is!

Amanda Idleman is a writer whose passion is encouraging others to live joyfully. She writes devotions for Your Nightly Prayer, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, Your Daily Prayer, and more. She has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com, Biblestudytools.com, and Christianity.com. She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God's Heart of Love for Mommas, alongside her husband’s companion devotional, Shepherd. You can find out more about Amanda on her Facebook Page or follow her on Instagram.