The Bible’s story of Hannah is dear to my heart. Hannah was barren and longed for a child. While praying and weeping bitterly for a child, she promised the Lord that if He gave her a son, she would give up the child to serve the Lord all the days of that child’s life. God answered her prayer and Hannah kept her promise. When the time came for Hannah to bring Samuel to the temple to live, she handed the child to the temple priest, Eli, courageously sharing, “For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord…” (1 Samuel 1:27-28 NASB)
Hannah knew that her son was not born for her, but for God. The same is true for your child. God created your child for Himself, not for you. No doubt God is using your child to bless you, challenge you, and grow you, but these things are not our children’s main purpose. The main purpose behind God creating our children is for our children to bring glory to Him.
During the years of my longing to be a mother, God helped me and led me to pray, “God bless me with a child when You know I am ready.” Not knowing whether or not God would ever think me ready to be a mother made that a hard prayer to pray, but, as I prayed that prayer, I began to realize that if and when God did bless our home with children, those children would not be given to be mine, but God’s.
As mothers, you and I must realize and accept that our precious children, whether young or old, are created for God not ourselves. When we see our children as not our own but God’s, mothering takes on a new perspective. We begin to love, nurture, and instruct our children for God because we love God. Dedicate means to set apart for a unique use; to commit to a particular course of action or thought. God is calling all mothers to purposefully in heart, mind, and prayer to commit our children to the purpose and design God has planned for them.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Romans 12:1, NASB)
As mothers, let us not only present ourselves to our Lord but our children also.
