But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her – 2 Kings 4:30

“Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?” (2 Kings 4:28), the Shunammite woman said. Her heart was grieved and anguished. She was content when she had no son. Neither did she ask for any favors when she made a room on the roof available to the prophet Elisha whenever he came their way (10). It was just an act of hospitality and nothing more. So when the man of God raised her hopes with the promise of a son, she protested, “No, my Lord…Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!” (16). She became pregnant anyway, and her son became her delight. So what happened on that day in the fields with his father (18)?

“Why are the servants carrying my boy in such haste? What is wrong with him”, the Shunammite woman may have said. “And where is his father? Couldn’t he bring his own son home to seek treatment for him? What am I supposed to do”? With the boy lying helplessly on her lap, she rooked him till he died at noon (20). “Where is the man of God”, she said.

In bitterness of heart and sorrow, she mounted her donkey and went to Mount Carmel. “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hope’?”

“Don’t worry, woman. My servant will go with you and raise the boy up”, said Elisha. But the Shunammite would not buy it. Her son must live again, and only the man who worked this miracle would satisfy her need for another miracle. What could Elisha do, but to get up and follow her (30)?

That’s the heart of a mother. A heart that will not rest until her child is well and safe from all trouble. Even in death, a mother would not let go until a miracle is received from on high (37). She cries when her baby cries. She groans when her child is sick. She would not rest until her child is warm and well fed. And until her baby has been comfortably tucked in and sound asleep, a mother would not sleep.

Observe the heart of a mother through Hagar when the water for her baby, Ishmael, ran out in the desert of Beersheba. “I cannot watch the boy die … And as she sat there, she began to sob” (Gen. 21:16). Feel a mother’s heart when her child’s life is threatened in a treacherous way in the case of the two prostitutes before King Solomon (1 Kings 3:16-27). “Please my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” (26). Journey through the day with the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31:10-31, and be captivated by the purity of a mother’s heart for her family. And finally, experience the pain a mother endures through the treasury of Mary’s heart (Lk. 2:19, 51). Come to grips with a mother’s heart when our Lord Jesus Christ stood trial before Pilate, when He carried His cross through the streets of Jerusalem, and on Golgotha, when they drove the nails through His hands. It is as pure as gold!

That’s why we salute you today, mother! You are the most beautiful gem in all of God’s creation; and we love you.

Happy Mother’s Day!