Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 96
TRANSCRIPT
Could it be that God has both a masculine side and a feminine side? Have we effectively put God in a box?
In today’s podcast I am going to talk about the Mother Heart of God. Come along with me, open your heart and mind, I believe it will be a blessing to you.
I’m Cindi Whitman from Restoring the Foundations and in today’s podcast we are celebrating all mothers with a podcast about the Mother Heart of God. I know already that this topic may cause some of you to struggle. Much of what we are taught in church is a male representation of God. Most of the language we are taught about God is in masculine language and leads us to believe that God is male. It is very appropriate to relate to God as Father, but in doing so we don’t need to ignore the feminine characteristics of Father God as well. When Jesus taught us to pray, He taught us to say, Our Father Who is in Heaven. And then again in John 14:6 Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.”
Having a relationship with Father God is the central teaching of the Bible and it is vitally important for us as humans. We were designed to have a relationship with our Father God. Jack Frost says that “The Bible is a story of a father who lost His children and the extravagant measures He went to in order to get them back.”
But I believe that Father God also has the heart of a mother. In Genesis 1:27 it says that “God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.” In other words, both male and female are created in the image of God, not just the male. In fact, the only time that God declared something to be “not good” is when Adam finds himself alone in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:18 says “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that a man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” After creating a woman, God said “It is good”.
Why did God need to create both male and female before He could declare things as good? It is because the full display of the diversity of the Godhead can only be achieved through the oneness of male and female.
The brilliance of God is on display in the creation of the family. God designed the family so that it was necessary for both male and female to be involved in the procreation process. He wanted that new child to have both a mother and a father for the child to have a full spectrum view of what He, their Father God, is like. The oneness of mother and father is designed to be a picture and example of the character of God. The male father and the female mother display unique and separate attributes of Father God. When they are both working together in union with each other, they are displaying to the child the full view of what their heavenly Father is actually like. With only a father or only a mother the child is only getting a partial picture of God. It takes both the male and the female living in oneness to display the vast diversity of our Father God.
Too often the church has only focused only on the male aspects of God and in the process has made men more important than women. We have devalued women from the place that God designed for them. Yes, the Bible does refer to God using male pronouns. But God is not a man. God is a spirit who is neither male nor female. He is a spirit that is only fully displayed when we look at the attributes found in both male and female.
We tend to attribute certain characteristics to men and others to women. For example, women are usually the more nurturing ones and men the stronger disciplinarians. However, this is not always the case. When we put labels on certain attributes as either male or female it can be just the landing strip that the enemy needs to whisper in our ears that “there is something wrong with me” if you don’t fit the typical stereotype. This opens the door for the enemies’ lies about our identity. As a woman I experienced this bias or stereotype. I have characteristics that are more often associated as male. (a strong personality, leader, not naturally nurturing) As a strong woman not only did I experience rejection and bias from the church but I also questioned why God made me the way he did. It took many years to accept myself as He made me.
Let’s look at some of the scriptures that reveal the female characteristics and metaphors about Father God. I am taking some of these thoughts from a message on www.moodychurch.com
called God’s Feminine Attributes.
Isaiah 66:10-13 uses much imagery of a mother nursing her child. In verse 12-13 it says, “And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and rocked back and forth on the knee. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you.” I love this imagery. God is going to comfort us as a mother comforts her child. When my kids were upset, they wanted their Mama. When they were frightened, they wanted Daddy. But when they were upset and troubled, they were only comforted by their mother. The mother heart of God is what we need at times when we are upset and troubled. There are some hurts and wounds that need a mother’s comfort. As this verse says, as a mother comforts her children God is going to comfort us with that same gentle comfort.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 is an interesting passage because it contains both masculine and the feminine aspects of God. It starts out with the masculine description of Father God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, then it shifts to more feminine characteristics of comfort and mercy. “The Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” One of the incredible aspects of God is that He contains and exhibits both the masculine and the feminine. Why should that be a surprise to us since He is the one that created both male and female in His likeness.
Another example of the female attributes of God is found in Isaiah 49. The chapter describes how the people feel forgotten by God. They say things like “I have labored in Vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and futility.” Then in verses 14-15 it says, “But Zion said, The Lord has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me. (The Lord responded) Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb?” Have you ever felt that you have labored in vain? I know I have. I have felt like the work we have done for the Lord has been in vain. We pour out and pour out and, in my mind, we have not seen the results we should have. I have even wondered at times like in this verse, “God, have you forgotten me”. Then the Mother Heart of God prevails. It breaks through by saying just like a mother cannot forget the nursing child at her breast, God cannot forget us. What amazing imagery. God says that just as a mother will never forget the child nursing at her breast, He will never forget us. Again, we see the mother heart of God displayed in this verse.
Deuteronomy 32:11 describes God being like a mother eagle who hovers over her young. It says, “As a mother eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings.”
Isaiah 43:2 has become one of our favorite verses. Notice that it does not say that because you are a child of God that you won’t go through deep waters, but that when you go through deep waters God will be with you. It says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flames scorch you. For I am the Lord your God.” That is the heart of God toward you. And that is actually an aspect of the Mother heart of God. Typically, mothers are loyal no matter what. Dads can sometimes pull back from a child that is being rebellious or disloyal. Not the mother. They remain loyal to their children no matter what is going on in life. They will be with you through the deep waters of life.
In Luke 15:8-10 we see another aspect of the feminine heart of God. It says “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” We again see the imagery of the mother heart of God not giving up on lost and wayward children. Why would God have Luke include this story in his gospel except that God wanted us to know His heart towards us. To teach us that He is a God of compassion and kindness. Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” That kindness is an example of the Mother Heart of God towards His children.
In the book of Hosea, we see a protective side of God. God uses the image of the mother bear or the female lioness to describe his protective nature over His children. In Hosea 13:8 it says, “I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs, And I will tear open their chests; I will also devour them there like a lioness, As a wild animal would tear them to pieces.” First of all, you don’t want to get between a mother bear and her cubs, nor a lioness in the hunt to provide for her cubs. God uses this as a picture of His passion for His children. Again, God uses the imagery of the mother bear and the lioness to describe Himself because there is not a better picture to describe His protective nature over His children.
In Luke 13:34 we see another picture of the Mother Heart of God. It says “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her young under her wings, and you were unwilling!” I heard a story of a firefighter who was walking through the charred remains of a field that had been completely ravaged by fire and hearing the cries of baby birds. When he found the source of the sound, he discovered a nest of birds who had been covered from the fire by the body of their mother. The mother died in the fire, but the babies were unharmed. That is the heart of a mother. And that is the heart of our Father God.
Jeremiah 33:3 says, ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ This shows us that God is willing to listen whenever we want to talk. Mothers are typically better listeners than Dads. You often hear of Mom’s sitting on the child’s bed as the child recaps their day. You don’t often hear of fathers doing that same thing. Why is that? The mother’s heart wants to hear and understand their child’s heart. They want to know every detail of their life so they can understand what is going on with their child. Fathers on the other hand are wired to want to hear the facts to give advice or problem solve. Dads don’t want to just listen to hurts and struggles going on with their child, they want to fix problems. Moms love to listen and understand.
I remember being in a crowd with a lot of people and noise around and yet when I heard the voice of my child calling out, I immediately heard it and responded. This is the same with our Father God. He is listening and he is ready to respond to us!
Your Father God will sit with you and listen to your heart as long as you want. He wants a relationship with you!
We have an amazing God who is neither male nor female. He relates to us as both Father and as Mother. In God we see the perfect balance of strength and compassion, of justice and mercy, and of nurture and discipline. Through it all runs His deep love for His children. A love that was willing to give up the life of His only Son to redeem His lost children.
We celebrated Mother’s Day this past Sunday in the USA. Your Mom may not have been perfect, but she gave you life. Ask Father God how you can bless your mom. Everyone likes hearing a kind word. Sharing with her a special time that you remember as a child will bless her. Even if you missed Mother’s Day it’s not too late! If your heart hurts when you think of your mom, then we’d encourage you to seek healing of those memories with one of our trained RTF ministers. Hurt and unforgiveness can block our intimacy with Father God. We often hurt others from our own hurt.
If you’re a mom and you didn’t hear from your children on Mother’s Day, know that you are not forgotten! Father God sees you and he knows you. He celebrates you! He knit you together in your mother’s womb with great purpose and intentionality. Enjoy his embrace and love today.
Prayer
Father God, I praise you for Who you are. I thank you that you are both Father and Mother to us. I thank you that your love for us is without measure. Lord, help me to receive all that you are so that I can experience you fully. Amen
Your heart may have been triggered today regarding this topic. Once a mom, always a mom. You may be estranged from your mom or from your kids. Know that no matter what has happened there is healing and redemption for you and for them. God often reminds me that He loves my kids and grandkids even more than I do. He is at work in their lives even when we don’t see it. His purposes for you and for them have not died. If you need help getting your heart healed, please reach out to our ministry coordinator or find an RTF ministry team in your area that can help you. You are worth it! Invest in your own healing and freedom today. RTF ministry has a lasting generational impact! You and your family will benefit!
We are training new RTF ministers! Are you interested in being used by God to bring healing and restoration to the body of Christ? If so, reach out to our training department today! Check out our website at www.restoringthefoundations.org.
