Where’s Momma?
In the story of the prodigal son, I have heard several messages preached with one point of the message being, “Where’s Momma”? True, as we read the account in Luke 15:11-32, we find no mention of Momma in the story. Where is she? We could assume death or busyness or even indifference or…we could assume a lot of different things and any of them could have been the case. But, since the Bible does not say, then that is all they would be – assumptions. We read of the father seeing him afar off as the son returns home. Why isn’t Momma out there looking for him as well?
A recent conversation with a mother of a wayward child has me thinking about this…where was Momma in that story? I am reminded of one of my favorite stories – of Hannah receiving the promise from the Lord that she would have a son. Before receiving that promise, Hannah was one sorrowful woman. The Bible describes her as being in “bitterness of soul” and one that “wept sore”. However, after Hannah received the promise from God, we read in 1 Samuel 1:18 “…So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.” Notice, Hannah did not receive a son that day but she DID receive a promise from God and that was just as good as holding a child in her arms!
So, in the story of the prodigal son, where was Momma? Maybe Momma was in the house cooking supper when the son came home. Maybe Momma was talking to the Lord. Maybe Momma was cleaning. Maybe Momma was singing praises to God. Maybe Momma was reading the Word. Maybe, as with Hannah, Momma had received a promise from the Lord and therefore was experiencing the perfect peace of God that passeth all understanding. Maybe Momma finally realized that the Lord was perfectly capable of getting her prodigal’s attention…that God did not need her help at all to bring her son to the end of himself and thus a place of true repentance…that her worrying and fretting was doing absolutely no good at all. Maybe – just maybe – Momma had finally cast that burden on the Lord, left it there, and did NOT go back and pick it up. Bottom line, maybe Momma had finally learned to trust God!
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:6-8
~ Rachel ~