This international distress signal, originally used by ships and aircraft, began in the early twentieth century as a cry for help because it sounded like m’aider, the French expression for “help me.” In our daily devotions with God, He hears our distress signals and answers our calls for help. May the following suggestions help you connect with Him during your times of need.
Because many people associate May with Mother’s Day, this month I will be featuring three devotional books in memory of my own mother and in honor of all women and the important roles they play.
Moments of Peace for Moms, published in 2019 by Our Daily Bread, offers 365 days of important God time for women who might be experiencing moments of distress during their busy lives.
In this book’s entry for May 11, writer Herb Vander Lugt describes “A Good Mother’s Influence,” where he uses King Lemuel’s mother as a role model when she “urged him to be a pure, sober, honest, and compassionate king.” The writer also declares motherhood to be a “challenge and a privilege.”
To help moms find peace in the midst of their challenges, the book offers a collection of varied articles on parenting advice. From helping kids deal with scary spiders to coping with the constant care of a special needs child, this devotional contains wonderful ways to strengthen spiritual relationships.
The entry entitled “Life’s Storm-Tossed Sea” cites 1 Peter 5:7 and encourages us to “cast all our anxiety on him.”
“When worries begin to gnaw at our mind, let’s surrender them to the Lord and not take them back again. That’s the secret of soul-serenity when we’re on life’s storm-tossed sea.”
My own mother enjoyed the quarterly publications of Our Daily Bread, and they could often be found holding a place in her Bible. Shortly after losing her husband, my father, to an aneurism, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer which soon metastasized to the lung and then the brain. However, she never wavered in her faith and in her courage.
Many of Tracy Crump’s devotional selections in Health, Healing, and Wholeness (©2021 by CrossLink Publishing) resonate with me as I think back to my mother’s illness and death. As an intensive care nurse, the author has seen first-hand the effects of health issues.
In her entry “From Loss to Restoration” Tracy Crump recalls helping her friend select a wig after losing her hair from chemo.
“Helping my friend hunt for a wig wasn’t what either of us wanted to do with our day, but we made an adventure of it. We visited several shops, tried on wigs—some silly, some gorgeous—talked, and laughed. She made her selection, and we celebrated with lunch at an Italian restaurant. Cancer had attacked, but it wouldn’t defeat us.”
I recall a similar incident when my mother’s best friend, her hairdresser, helped her select and style a post-chemo wig. The two of them laughed and cried and then made an unbearable situation a beautiful memory.
Crump’s devotions offer hope and encouragement in the midst of many Mayday situations, and she reveals the source of true comfort.
“Christians have a source of joy even the most horrific news cannot eradicate, and that joy can sustain us through the worst of times to follow. . . . With our eyes on God, we can join the psalmist in proclaiming, ‘Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!’ (Psalm 126:5). We can’t be happy all the time, but we can express our joy in the Lord.”
When my ninety-six-year-old grandfather was suffering from pneumonia just before his death, I witnessed his joy in the Lord. When a young family friend spent years battling leukemia and the effects of a bone marrow transplant, his positive attitude spread joy to everyone he knew.
Lysa TerKeurst helps readers to feel the joy and closeness of the Lord in her devotional book Embraced (©2018 by Thomas Nelson).
As President of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa TerKeurst writes devotions about her experiences as a wife, a mom, a Christian speaker and author, and one who is loved by God. In her introduction she explains the purpose of her devotions.
“They’re a glimpse into my own personal journey as I’ve set out to live the “embraced” life. One where I not only receive His embrace, but I return His embrace. Embracing His grace, His wisdom, and His rest. Embracing His love, His Word, and His plans. Even embracing the parts of His plan that I find horribly difficult in the moment but completely necessary in the end. Parts that ask me to sacrifice and lay down my own desires and fleshly responses.”
In her entry entitled “The Pineapple Principle,” Lysa describes the healthy goodness of pineapple found inside its complicated-looking spiny skin as an analogy to studying the Bible. For years she had avoided delving into the depth of the Bible much like she had avoided getting to the meat of the pineapple. When her friend taught her to shave off the outer skin and chop the fruit into bite-sized pieces, she realized she could approach the Word of God in much the same way.
“The more we make a habit of applying God’s Word to our lives, the more it becomes part of our nature—our natural way of acting and reacting. Knowing God’s Word and doing what it says not only helps us while going through heartbreak and trouble, it also brings more satisfaction to our souls than anything else ever could.”
Yes, if only we’d spend as much time daily studying the Word as we do solving the Wordle of the day!
Whether you’re a mom, an aunt, a sister, a teacher, a grandmother, a mentor, a caregiver, all of the above, or none of the above, God has called you to play a significant role in the lives of everyone you meet.
Like the Proverbs 31 woman of noble character, those of you who answer God’s call are “worth far more than rubies.” You are “clothed with strength and dignity.” You “speak with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on [your] tongue.”
Although I didn’t notice many of my mother’s noble traits when I was a child, I certainly witnessed her value, her strength, her dignity, her wisdom, and her faith near the end of her life.
I was often a sassy, ungrateful kid who whined when my mother gave me hand-sewn Barbie clothes. I wanted the store-bought versions, not the ones she had made. However, over time, I grew to understand and appreciate her sacrifices and selflessness.
After my mother became bedridden with cancer, I remember sharing a Joni Eareckson Tada cassette tape with her about finding strength in the midst of trials. As I lay next to her in her fragile state, we laughed and cried together over scripture and Joni’s inspiring words.
I think, I hope, she forgave me for my youthful sassiness and ingratitude; and together, we reaped joy from the tears we had sown.
“Most of the efforts, sacrifices, and expressions of love our mothers have given us will not be the lead story on the news. Their recognition will be more personal. But what matters is not the scope of the appreciation but its genuineness.
May we thank God for the mothers who have molded our own hearts. As we honor them, we fulfill the truth of Proverbs 31:28, ‘Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.’” (from “The Best Mum” in Moments of Peace for Moms)
If you’re a mom, I hope you find a moment of peace each and every day. I hope you find hope and health and healing in the midst of whatever trials you face. If your own mother is still alive, I also hope you will take a moment to embrace her and tell her you love her.
May you continue to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.”—2 Peter 3:18
Starting and/or ending each day in the Word will strengthen you to complete the tasks you are called to perform and to better handle all your “Mayday!” situations. God will always be nearby to hear those distress calls.
“The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit.”—Thomas Malory
“I am sure that if the mothers of various nations could meet, there would be no more wars.”—E. M. Forster
Proverbs 1:8; 2 Chronicles 15:4; Psalm 18:6
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Thank you for mentioning my book, Joyce! I’m so glad it spoke to your heart. It’s my prayer that God will use it to help others through difficult times.