Moms have this in common: An Unwavering and Loyal Love for their Children.
Today’s Big Idea: Love founded on trust avoids pain and pitfalls.
Rebekah’s Unwavering and Loyal Love for Jacob
28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Genesis 25:28 (ESV)
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. Genesis 27:5-8 (ESV)
9 Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10 And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” Genesis 27:9-10 (ESV)
11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.” Genesis 27:9-13 (ESV)
Principle: Trust First in God and then Trust in God for People. Trust Places the Outcome into God’s Hands
7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. 2 Chronicles 32:7-8 (ESV)
Principle: Trust doesn’t always make the circumstance change, but trust does place the outcome into the One’s hands who is greater than us.
“Greater is He who is in us, than He who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4 41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran. Genesis 27:41-43 (ESV)
What does Rebekah Teach us About the Love of a Mother?
- Unwavering, loyal love is the love of Moms. Keep it up.
- Love without first trusting in God, is headed for pain, pitfalls, and loss.
- 3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4 (ESV)
- 3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
- Rebekah’s love caused her to over-step her “Mom Boundary”
- Rebekah also shows us the need to grow our trust in God.
- Let him who walks in darkness and has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. Isaiah 50:10 (ESV)
- casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 (ESV)
Study Questions
- What is one of your best Mom memories. Why?
- What does or would scare you the most about being a Mother (Parent)?
- Read Genesis 27. Why is it so tempting to overstep your “Mom Boundaries”? When was a time you did and how did it work out for you and your child?
- Read 2 Chronicles 32:1-23. How much prep did the people do to prepare for the threat to come? Compare your prep to prepare your kids for “battle.” When is it time for you to just trust God for the children He has entrusted into your care?
- Trusting in God can be hard. Read: Proverbs 3:5,6: 1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 28:7 How do these commands with promises help. Go to BibleGateway.com and search more verses with “trust in the Lord” as part. What are some trust builders that you gain from these?
Resources: How to Grow Trust in God?
- Four Biblical Truths to Comfort Mothers Today.
- Why Do We Put God in a Box?
- 17 Downright Hysterical Texts That Only Mom Could Send
- If you rescue an angry man, you’ll only have to do it again tomorrow. by Henry Cloud
- Boundaries For Parents. by Henry Cloud
- Boundaries books by Henry Cloud: Boundaries. Boundaries with Kids. Boundaries with Teens. Boundaries with Adult Children.
- Articles by Henry Cloud: https://www.boundaries.me/blog