MARY KNEW

‘The angel said to her,
Don’t be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you.
…and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will
be called the son of the Most High God. The Lord God will
make him a King, as his ancestor David was
,and he will be king of the descendants of Jacob forever;
his kingdom will never end!’ Luke 1:30 (GNT)

The discomfort a mother experiences during pregnancy is enormous. The process of bringing forth a child into this world is action-packed. And nurturing the child is wholesomely interesting yet physically and emotionally demanding.

A mother who is the recipient of a prophecy announcing the birth of her child will find the strength and stamina needed through the pregnancy, birth and any difficult times. When she is tired and weak, she can hold on to the prophecy received and draw strength from it.

Imagine the emotional and psychological stress that Mary and Joseph went through immediately after the birth of Jesus. They had to relocate to another country in the middle of the night. However, they found it easy to obey the angel’s instructions quickly because they knew the prophecy made concerning the child.
Mary knew the purpose which the child was to achieve so she readily followed God’s instructions every time on how to raise the child. She was not afraid to raise her child differently if it allowed him to be who God wanted him to be.

Imagine how Jesus’ parents felt when they found out that he had, without their consent, stayed back in the temple in Jerusalem. They had travelled a whole day’s journey before realizing that he was not with them.

Your knowledge of your child will determine how, when and where you will discipline the child, no matter how much you are provoked.

Your knowledge of what God says about your child will affect the way you influence his/her decision in choosing a career path. Mary knew Jesus’ earthly mission, so when Jesus abandoned the carpentry trade for which he had been trained by Joseph to preach the gospel, she did not condemn him or call a ‘family meeting’ to persuade, cajole or coerce him.
We are all created in the likeness of God. And God knew us before we were born. He had great plans for us from when the world began. As earthly parents, it is natural for us to take after our Father by knowing our children just the way God knows us.
‘Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;
and before thou camest forth out of the womb
I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations’. Jeremiah 1:5

Don’t feel bad that you do not have any idea what purpose God has been appointed your child to achieve. While you wait on God for direction, continue to raise your child purposefully in the way of the Lord. Above all, the joy of seeing your child through God’s eyes is amazingly fascinating. If your joy of motherhood is only centered on the fact that you have a child, you are short-changing yourself by depriving yourself of the joy that comes from raising warriors for the kingdom of God.
Always remember that the value of adequate preparation cannot be over-emphasized especially when raising a child. Adequate preparation stems from KNOWLEDGE.

Writer – Olubukonla Oludahunsi