God meets mothers in desperate circumstances with His hesed love. For moms in challenging situations, for those of us in hard parenting seasons, we can trust in God’s steadfast love for us. A love that is faithful. A love that delivers and provides. A love that keeps its promises. A love that never fails.

This spring brings a major shift in my motherhood: my youngest will graduate from high school. It’s a finish line that marks the end of this stage of parenting. I’ve seen it coming for a while and I’m filled with multiple emotions—joy for my son as he enters the next stage of life; sorrow as I anticipate not seeing him at home every day. I’ve reached the destination we all journey toward, yet I’m filled with uncertainty about what lies on the other side.

When I first embarked on this journey, I felt overwhelmed by all that I did not know. I felt inadequate in the face of so much that was new and unknown. I lacked wisdom for challenging parenting decisions and feared not getting them right. Since then, I’ve encountered many difficult circumstances in my motherhood and anticipate more to come. Yet, I can look back and see God’s grace at work and His faithfulness to meet me in all my troubles.

Wherever you are in your motherhood journey—whether in the early, middle, or empty nest years—God meets you where you are. He provides His grace. We see this in the lives of three mothers in the Bible. In each of their circumstances, God provided what they needed and gave them His grace.

God Sees and Knows

In the story of Hagar, we see a soon-to-be mother whom God saw in her struggle. As Sarai’s servant, she became part of Sarai’s plan to bring God’s promises to fruition (Gen. 16). When she fled from Sarai’s anger and into the wilderness, God met her and showed her His grace. There she called God El Roi; “You are a God of seeing . . . Truly here I have seen him who looks after me” (Gen. 16:13). When she later found herself in the desert again and thought she and her son would die, God saw her. He heard her cries. He met her needs once again with His grace: “Fear not, for God has heard” (Gen. 21:17).

When we struggle as moms, God meets us where we are with His abundant grace. He is El Roi, the God who sees. He sees our fears, sorrows, and uncertainties.

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