The baby is crying, the kitchen is a mess, and your toddler is in the middle of an all-out meltdown. All you want to do is try to get dinner on the table and survive the next few hours until bedtime without causing long-term emotional damage—for yourself or your children.
You have spent the entire day cleaning faces, countertops, dishes, and floors just to end the day with the house still a wreck. You might be thinking, what’s the point? Is any of this worth it?
The answer is yes. Because even the most ordinary moments of motherhood can point to a far greater story.
From the very beginning, God created us in His image (Gen. 1:26–27), and motherhood gives us countless opportunities to reflect something of God’s character as we care for the children He has entrusted to us.
But the reality is that most of our motherhood is lived in the unseen. So much of what you do each day feels ordinary, repetitive, and unnoticed. But God sees you there. He sees you when you are giving to your children even though you feel like you have nothing left. He sees the midnight feedings, the potty training, the dishwashing, the disciplining, and all the little acts of service that seem to disappear as quickly as you do them.
God is our Abba, our Father. When we picture God, we so often think of a Father who protects, provides, and sacrifices for His children. This is an accurate view of God. But Scripture also gives us pictures of God’s tenderness, compassion, strength, and comfort through the imagery of motherhood. These glimpses help us understand the depth of God’s care for His children.
Of course, no mother perfectly reflects who God is. We lose our patience. We speak harshly. We respond selfishly. We fail our children in ways we wish we hadn’t. But even there, God is not finished with us. As we turn back to Christ in our weakness and receive His forgiveness, He continues His work in us. And as we apologize to our children, we display what humility looks like.
This means your motherhood does not have to be perfect to matter. By God’s grace, your everyday motherhood can tell a story about the God who loves, provides, comforts, forgives, and faithfully cares for His children.
So, mama, when no one else sees what you do, remember that God does. Look at who He is, remember what He has given you, and then give what you have received.
Your ordinary motherhood matters—not because you are extraordinary, but because you belong to an extraordinary God who uses mothers to display his attributes. Allow me to remind you—and myself—of the character of God, because as we behold His glory, the Holy Spirit is at work transforming us into Christ’s likeness (2 Cor. 3:18).
God Is Our Creator
“For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.”
(Ps. 139:13-14)
God is our Creator. He chooses to use women’s bodies to do this incredible work of forming His creation. Mothers are literally the vehicle that God uses to bring his imagebearers into the world! How amazing is that?
Anyone who has ever been pregnant knows the wonder and excitement of having a baby grow inside of them. For nine months, we track their size and anxiously feel every flutter and kick. Then, at birth, one minute they are inside of us and the next they are in our arms. It is such a blessing that God gives mothers a front-row seat to the miracle of His creation.
But Psalm 139 reminds us that the wonder isn’t ultimately about what a mother’s body can do. It is about what God does. He is the One who forms, knits together, and creates. He is the Creator, and from the very beginning, He has chosen to work through mothers in the beautiful process of bringing new life into the world.
And that truth is an encouragement to you, mama. The God who created your children is the same God who created you. He knows them completely, and He knows you completely. Nothing is accidental or outside of His sovereign care.
You don’t have to carry the weight of being your children’s creator, because you aren’t. God is. You are entrusted with the beautiful privilege of nurturing the people He has made.
That changes how we approach motherhood. When you feed your baby, comfort your toddler, teach your child, or patiently care for the little person God has entrusted to you, you are caring for someone who ultimately belongs to Him. Your job isn’t to create perfect children or shape every outcome perfectly. Your job is to faithfully steward what God has placed in your hands.
Even when you feel inadequate, God is still the Creator. Even when you don’t know what you’re doing, He does. Even when motherhood feels ordinary, you participate in something God has done since the beginning: bringing His image-bearers into the world and faithfully caring for them.
Through motherhood, we can bear witness to our wonderful Creator.
God Is Our Comforter
“As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
(Is. 66:13)
So often in the Bible, God uses motherhood to show how He comforts us. This is so fitting. When a child falls and is hurt, what is the first thing they cry out for? “Mommy!” Nothing is more comforting than a hurting child being scooped up into the arms of their loving mother.
God offers us the same kind of comfort. When we are in the depths of despair, He is there to swoop us up and comfort us. He is our refuge and strength, our very present help in trouble. When we are hurting, we can cry out to God in the same way our children cry out to us.
And mama, the comfort you offer your children begins with the comfort you have received from God. You don’t have to be strong enough to carry every hurt on your own. You can run to your Comforter first, knowing that He meets you in your own weakness and gives you what you need to care for those He has entrusted to you.
When you scoop up your crying child, sit beside a brokenhearted teenager, or simply offer a hug after a hard day, you are giving a small glimpse of the comfort God has already given you.
Through motherhood, we can tangibly reflect our God, the One who comforts His children.
God Is Compassionate
“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.”
(Is. 49:15)
When a child cries to be fed, it’s hard to ignore, let alone forget. When babies are hungry, they will let you know. Actually, they’ll let the whole house know.
But that tug at your heart when you hear a baby cry is compassion. God has given mothers a special tenderness toward their children, and He uses that familiar love to help us understand His own compassion toward us. But Isaiah reminds us that even a mother’s love can fail. God’s compassion never does. He will never forget His children.
When we cry out to God for help and patience with our children, or come to Him asking for forgiveness for the hundredth time that morning, He does not grow tired of us or forget us. He meets us with compassion because He knows our weakness and invites us to depend on Him for everything we need.
And when we have experienced that kind of compassion from God, we can extend it to our children. When your child is struggling, hurting, disobedient, or simply having a difficult day, you can meet them with tenderness and patience—not because you always have more to give, but because you have a compassionate Father who meets you in your own weakness.
Through motherhood, we demonstrate God’s compassion for His children.
God Is Gentle
“He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.”
(Is. 40:11)
People are naturally gentle with babies. We instruct our children to give babies gentle kisses and gentle touches. There is something about their smallness and vulnerability that draws out tenderness in us. Isaiah gives us this beautiful picture of God caring for His people with that same kind of gentleness.
God is gentle and gracious with us. He does correct and discipline us when we need it, but even His correction comes from a heart of love. He does not deal harshly with His children. He patiently leads us, cares for us, and meets us in our weakness.
So when we are tired and our child’s behavior is testing your patience, remember the gentleness God has shown you. You don’t have to respond harshly simply because you are frustrated. You can pause, depend on Him, and choose a gentle response—even when correction is needed.
Through motherhood, we can demonstrate the gentle and gracious heart of our God to His children.
God Is Strong
“Nothing is too hard for you.”
(Jer. 32:17b)
“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.”
(Prov. 31:25)
God clearly designed women for hard things. (Can I get an Amen?) After carrying a baby the size of a bowling ball—one that’s been camping out on her bladder, rearranging her organs, and making sleep and breathing feel optional—women then get to meet the delivery options: push a human being out of one of the most intimate parts of their body or be sliced open. Dealer’s choice.
And just when they think the hard part is over, they immediately transition into keeping a newborn alive by feeding them from another very sensitive part of their body—often involving pain, cracked skin, blood, and tears (from mom and baby).
And all of this is done while their bodies are still healing, sleep is nonexistent, their other kids are often acting up, and their hormones are on a roller coaster. Somehow… they’re still expected to function.
And they do.
Motherhood is hard. It takes enormous grit and strength. But no matter how strong you are, there will be moments when you simply don’t have enough left. That is when we remember that our strength does not ultimately come from us. Christ reminds us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
God is strong. Nothing is too hard for Him. And He does not ask us to manufacture the strength we need for motherhood on our own. We can depend on His grace, even when we feel like we have nothing left.
When you are exhausted, overwhelmed, or facing something you don’t know how to handle, you can lean on the God whose strength never runs out. You may not feel strong, but you can depend on the One who is.
Through motherhood, we demonstrate a strength that comes not from ourselves, but from our strong and mighty God.
God Is Our Teacher
“This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: I am
the Lord your God, who teaches you for your benefit, who leads you in the way
you should go.”
(Is. 48:17)
“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.”
(Prov. 1:8)
As mothers, we are constantly teaching our children. We teach them how to speak, eat, walk, use the toilet, buckle their seatbelts, tie their shoes, write their names, drive cars, and more. And these are just the things we are intentionally teaching them.
But more is caught than taught. Every day, our children are learning from our actions and attitudes. They are watching how we respond when we’re frustrated, how we treat others, how we handle disappointment, and whether we turn to God when life is hard. Through our daily lives, we are teaching them about God, His Word, and what it looks like to trust Him.
What an incredible responsibility and an incredible opportunity.
But we don’t have to do this on our own. God Himself is our teacher. He teaches us for our benefit and leads us in the way we should go. As we learn from Him and allow His Word to shape our own lives, we have something worth passing on to our children.
Through motherhood, we have the blessing of teaching our children from the wisdom God is continually teaching us.
The Eternal Significance of Motherhood
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother
Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”
(2 Tim. 1:5)
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress
them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk
along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
(Deut. 6:6-7)
“We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the
glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.”
(Ps. 78:4)
Mothers make a huge impact. We are training up the next generation of the family of God. Yet, we can have hope even when our faithfulness is imperfect. God is able to work through imperfect mothers who faithfully point their children to Him. Our failures do not thwart His purposes, and our weaknesses do not limit His power.
Over and over again in the Old Testament, God tells His people to teach their children about Him. They are to keep His Word on their hearts and impress it upon their children. As mothers, we get to share the wonders of God with our children when we sit down, walk along the road, lie down, and get up. We have opportunities to teach our children about God all the time.
We teach them the truth of God’s Word so they can know that God is good and see faith being lived out right before them. We don’t point to how great we are. We point them to Jesus again and again.
That’s where our greatest impact lies. Whether they are breastfed or bottle-fed, homeschooled or public-schooled, eating organic fruit or chicken nuggets from the back of your car matters little by comparison. The biggest investment we can make is in their souls. We can’t save our children, but we have the incredible privilege of faithfully telling them about the Savior who can.
So, Momma, when you end your day with your kitchen still a mess, and you feel like you have accomplished nothing, take heart. Remember that the seemingly ordinary work of motherhood can have an eternal impact. You are teaching your children truths about who God is and how He loves us. You are showing them what it looks like to depend on Him, to repent when you fail, to receive His grace, and to keep walking in faith.
But your hope is not in how perfectly you mother. Your hope is in Christ.
He is the perfect Son. He is the Savior. He loves your children more than you ever could, and His grace is sufficient for you in every weakness. So faithfully point your children to Him, trust Him with them, and rest in the grace He has already given you.
What a blessing it is to spend our ordinary days displaying the character of our extraordinary God and pointing our children to Christ.