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From sweet baby smiles all the way up to friendship with an adult child, motherhood brings a myriad of blessings. Children truly are a gift from God. As we seek to bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord, we delight in the everyday blessings, as well as the eternal purpose God has granted to us.

And yet, motherhood also brings struggles. Right now, sleepless nights and cranky teething can drain my joy. Maybe for you it’s chronic health issues, a pattern of rebellion, or something else altogether. In these moments, what we know to be beautiful purpose can sometimes feel like nothing more than painful endurance. What happened to our joy?

Though it doesn’t always seem like it, coming face to face with imperfect joy in our mothering is actually a blessing. It’s a reminder that abiding joy isn’t found in our calling as a mother. Rather, it’s found in our Savior.  Our children are sweet gifts from God that we delight in. Yet we cannot look to them, to ourselves, or to our circumstances for what only Christ can supply. If we do, we will find dry wells that leave us thirsty every time. Our Savior alone provides rivers of living water. 

Here are just a few glimpses at how He satisfies:

When we feel exhausted because of the constant needs of our children, we see Christ becoming a servant and pouring out His very life for us: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). “For we know love, because He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16a). Jesus held nothing back to meet the need of our souls. We delight in His servanthood and love.

When we struggle over our inadequacy to be the perfect mom, we see Christ fulfilling the law: “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus did what we can never do and imputes His righteousness to His children.  We rejoice in His perfection.

When we feel burdened by our sins of impatience, selfishness, and so on, we see Christ as our Sin-Bearer: “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24-25). Jesus endured the wrath of God on our behalf and frees us from slavery to sin. As we gaze in continued faith and repentance on Him, we are forgiven and enabled to live a life of sanctification. What beauty and freedom we find in His sacrifice!

No matter what we face in motherhood, abiding joy is born as we look to Christ. This joy will grow and deepen until one day it reaches its full maturity in the very presence of our Lord: “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

Look up, dear mom, and rejoice!