They'll Be the Death of You

"And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.” – Genesis 30:1

When Rachel asked Jacob to do what only God could—open her womb (v. 2), she told him she’d die if she didn’t have a child; but, as it turned out, she died when she did. The labor during the birth of her second son proved to be so hard that it ended in her own death (35: 16-18). Let me share something with you that you may or may not agree with, but I’ll wager, more will than won’t.

From the time a woman becomes pregnant, till the end of that pregnancy in a birth, she will experience pain of one sort or another. It may be nausea, headaches, back pain, or contractions. And Rachel was not the only woman who drew her final breath during that “valley of the shadow of death,” we call labor. You may say this is because of the “curse” put upon Eve in garden’ for her rebellion against her Creator God. But as far as I’m concerned, as a mother who finds Paul’s admonition to love my children to be simple enough to follow, labor is the easiest part of being a mother. This is not to say that a father is any less capable of deep parental love than a mother, it’s simply that I can only express my own feelings and those of other mothers I have known through these many years.

The woman who is determined to live out her own dreams and ambitions through her children, instead of allowing them to find God’s will for their own lives, is still fighting for air. When her own physical, spiritual, and emotional needs take priority over those of her children, she is nurturing self-preservation. I’m not saying a mother should not have time and resources of her own, and especially the ability to build a loving, lasting relationship with her husband, which is one of the most important gifts she can give her children. I’m just saying, some women become mothers to round out their resume, while others take on this blessing as a life-changing and life-giving role. Believe me, a mother who has to watch her child go through pain, suffering, persecution, or (God forbid) rebellion against Him, dies a thousand deaths.

I know of more than one mother who offered God her own life if it could be used to bring her son or daughter back to God…and God took that offer. Would you be willing to do that? Would I? When I said in my title that they (your children) would be the death of you, I meant it. If you’re the kind of mother whose children will one day rise up and call her “blessed” (Prov. 31), it will be the death of you, one way or another. The only question is, whose life is more important to you…yours or theirs?