Sheltering in God this Mother's Day

 Very soon, people in the UK will be celebrating Mother’s day. This day is difficult for many people, for many reasons. There are those who no longer have their mums, mums who no longer have their children, women longing to be mums, those whose mum’s weren’t always what they should have been, to name just a few. 

For me Mother’s day has been a challenge for many years. I am step-mum to three beautiful women and I first really realised how tricky it can be when I overheard two of them having an argument in church one Mother’s day about whether they should give me a gift if it would upset their mum. This difficulty around mothers day grew more complicated as year after year I didnt hear the patter of feet and that little voice called me mum. When my mother in love (my mother in law!) was promoted to glory there was an extra layer of grief. Now as an adoptive mum, the joy of motherhood on mother’s day is tinged with grief as there is a mum out there grieving the loss of her daughter. For many years I  struggled going to church on Mother’s day, very often staying home with a duvet over my bed and I was the minister! I would wallow in self pity, focusing on the pain I felt. 

However after some time, God did a work in my heart and I began to see things differently. Instead of running away from God on this day I began to run to him. I learned that God was my place of shelter and I could come to him for strength and healing, able to return to the world stronger and renewed. 

This concept of God being my shelter isn’t something new, it is seen throughout scripture, particularly in the Psalms. David knew what it was like to face difficult and painful situations, To feel lonely and full of grief. However David knew too what it was like to come into the presence of God and in him find shelter. In psalm 61:2-4 we read: 

“For no matter where I am, even when I’m far from home,I will cry out to you for a father’s help. When I’m feeble and overwhelmed by life, guide me into your glory, where I am safe  and sheltered. Lord, you are a paradise of protection to me. You lift me high above the fray.

None of my foes can touch me when I’m held firmly in your wraparound presence! Keep me in this glory. Let me live continually under your splendour-shadow, hiding my life in you forever.” 

In the psalms we read that David was a man who was honest with God. When he walked through difficulty, he came to God and told him. When we felt life was unfair he brought it all to God, not afraid to show his deepest and darkest feelings. When he came to God, he found shelter and from this we see amazing scriptures like Psalm 91, in which verse 4 says: 

"His massive arms  are wrapped around you, protecting you. You can run under his covering of majesty and hide. His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm."

Through the last few years, around Mothers day I have continued to return to the shelter of God’s arm and have encouraged others who struggle on this day to do the same. I have claimed Psalm 36:7 that declares:

"O God, how extravagant is your cherishing love! All mankind can find a hiding place under the shadow of your wings."

Working with The Salvation Army’s family ministries unit, I have had the privilege of putting together the resources for a Mother’s day shelter service, an opportunity for those who struggle at Mother’s day to find a place to come to God and shelter in him. At Macclesfield, We will be holding a Mothers day shelter service the night before mothers day to give people a space to grieve, to lament and to encounter God. My prayer for the resources and the evening that I am hosting is that the people will meet with God and will take Psalm 27:5 to their own hearts. 

“In the day of trouble, he will treasure  me in his shelter, under the cover of his tent.

He will lift me high upon a rock, out of reach from all my enemies who surround me.”

My challenge to you today, whether Mother’s is difficult or a joy, is to consider do you run from God when times are tough, or do you run to him for shelter?