This summer I discovered that a nursing mother and God have things in common. Why you might ask? Well, a nursing mother is always ready to feed her child-and for as long as her child hungers. While visiting friends and family, I was in the company of a happy, young mother and her delightful child. In the course of my visit I heard regularly that special, urgent “I am hungry” cry from her baby. It was a sudden, intense wailing saying “You have what I need and I need it now. ” This cry meant mother had to stop whatever she was doing, and tend quickly to the source of these staccato sobs. For when she took too long to respond, the baby’s cries became even more insistent saying “if I don’t have that milk now I may not survive”
Yet, as soon as the baby swallowed that warm and soothing milk, the crying faded to intermittent gurgling, cooing ,suckling noises. This former impatient child became a bundle of peaceful blankets simply enjoying one of life’s serene and contented moments.
Holding her child adoringly and warmly, this mother nursed her child until she quietly slipped off to sleep. What stood out in my memory is this image. The mother was willing to provide milk for as long as her child fed. And her milk flowed abundantly.
God is like this nursing mother. His milk is an abundance of love and mercy. Yet how often do we cry out urgently to get it? How often are we restless and unsettled for this elixir to fill our hearts and lives? How often do we long for the peace and contentment this drink alone can bring? But we find all kinds of reasons not to cry out for it !
However, our God, the faithful parent, is always ready and willing to provide this milk and feed us until we have our fill. God’s diet of love and mercy is in never-ending supply.
Remember this the next time we feel undernourished from our daily living patterns. God is always available and ready to sooth our hurts and our restlessness. In fact at this moment God is looking adoringly and warmly at us waiting to feed us what we need-all he waits to hear is our urgent cries!