Tending the Fires
Mothering is holy work. It is holy work because, as Christian mothers, we have been entrusted with the task of being fire-tenders, tending the holy fire God has placed within our sons and daughters. This truth landed with me on a chilly spring evening as we gathered around our backyard fire pit.
The flames danced as our son jabbed at the blackening firewood with the poker, revealing a bed of luminous orange coals. As the fire waned, he stooped to blow on the smoldering coals, flashing me a grin as the coals reignited and crackled with flames. He added more firewood, basking in the victory of his snapping blaze.
As I watched, I thought about how our children's hearts are like that fire. God places the glowing embers of truth within their hearts, and as Christian mothers, we are the ones who tend the coals God placed within them and fan them into flame for His glory.
It is our task to breathe life into those smoldering coals with the breath of faithful prayer and encouragement. We are the ones who kindle and fuel the fire with the truth of Scripture. We stir the coals, fan into flame those embers our Lord placed within our sons and daughters.
As tenders of these holy fires, we stand in a strategic place in the lives of our children and hold a place of tremendous power. We have the power to encourage the trajectory of our children’s lives toward truth and righteousness. With each Scripture we read and teach to them, and each prayer we pray over them, we encourage that holy fire to burn strong and deep within our sons and daughters.
The goal is that the truth of Scripture will set their hearts ablaze and be the light that illuminates their lives. As Christian mothers, we desire that our sons and daughters will carry the flaming torch of truth to the next generation. As God-honoring mothers, we can stand faithfully in that strategic place, stirring and stoking that fire of truth God is building within them.
However, sometimes the fire doesn’t leap with flames. Sometimes the fire we’ve carefully stoked and tended for years smokes and sputters. However, even in the absence of leaping flames, the fire still burns. Despite the lack of flames, the bed of coals remains and continues to slowly burn. The bed of coals burns more intensely than the flames. It hollows out a deep, glowing well beneath it, burning hotly in the absence of flickering flames.
As we approach this Mother’s Day, allow me to remind you that your labor in prayer, in faithfully teaching and encouraging your children, is not in vain. It is holy work, and it will bring an ample harvest in His time and way. As Scripture says:
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
So, as we tend the holy fire within our sons and daughters, may we be faithful to fan the flames with the breath of our prayers and stay at the task of teaching our children, knowing that our labor of love is seen and noted in heaven.
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Happy Mother’s Day, Friends.