God's Unfailing Love

I listened to a sermon by Tim Keller the other evening called "Can a Mother Forget?" on a wonderful passage in Isaiah 49. In the passage, God asks if a nursing mother can forget her child. Of course the rhetorical question receives a "no" in response, but then God says that a mother will forget, but He will not forget. God's comparison of himself to a nursing mother asks us to draw out the similarities and the differences. Keller points out that the effect of using the metaphor is to get us to understand God's character better with not only our minds, but also our affections. Keller illustrates three ways that a mother is compelled to remember her child (and that God is compelled to remember us). 1: She is physically compelled by the milk production and demand system. She hurts if her baby doesn't nurse. 2: She is emotionally compelled by the hormones that are released during nursing. These hormones promote loving feelings for her baby. 3. These first two ways promote unconditional love: the mother loves her baby without getting anything in return. God, like the nursing mother, loves us because of his very nature. He loves us despite the fact that we give him nothing in return.

I've been pondering some other ways that God is like and unlike a nursing mother.

A nursing mother holds her child for as long as it takes to comfort that child. God holds his children and comforts them, too.

But a nursing mother gets tired. Her back and arms get sore after holding that baby. God never grows weary.

A nursing mother cherishes the sight of her sleeping baby. She knows her baby is getting much-needed restoration. God gives to his beloved in sleep.

But a nursing mother must herself sleep, too. She cannot always be present consciously to sustain her baby. God does not sleep or ever leave his children. He sustains them constantly.

A nursing mother delights in her child, happy to see the child growing and pleased when he or she reaches those important "milestones." God delights in his children, too, happy to see them flourishing.

But a mother cannot cause the most important types of growth. She helps facilitate them, yes, but she is not in control of the child's spiritual transformation. God actually promises to be at work in his children, causing the sanctification that he desires to take place.

I'm sure there are many, many more comparisons to be drawn from this passage. What similarities and differences can you think of? Be encouraged by God's unfailing love for you, stronger even than the love of a mother for her baby!