Message: “An Unloved Mother Learns to Worship God (Genesis 29:31-35)” from Dr. David Carey Dixon

A message from the series "Sunday Service." On this Mother’s Day, when we seek to honor our mothers, we recognize that they come in all sizes, shapes, and characters. Some are wonderful and godly in spite of difficult circumstances, while others suffer from unfulfilled expectations or simply never manage to get the right focus on the task. But the Bible doesn’t specify that we should honor only the deserving mothers – it just says you somehow try to dignify and show appreciation for the one whom God has used to bring you into this world, whatever she was like. So the biblical mother we want to focus on today had some special struggles to deal with, but she doesn’t normally receive much attention – a forgotten mother named Leah, the unwanted wife of Jacob. Yet her womb would be opened repeatedly, bearing Jacob a total of six sons and one daughter. And the first four sons and their names tell the story of this mother’s anguish, of her struggle to overcome her inferior status, and her spiritual victory related to the birth of her fourth son. This mother’s story would be repeated for generations, kept in the collective memory of how the tribes of Israel had their start and how the mother of a major portion of Israel was slighted and undervalued, yet learned to change her focus and give God His rightful place in her heart. And when she did so, she gave her descendants the legacy of being called by the name of her son Yehudah (“Judeans” = Jews), which means “praise” or “thanksgiving” to Yahweh. And in their descendant Jesus, all nations would be invited to live to the praise of Yahweh!

Dr. David Carey Dixon - October 15, 2023

If the Foundations Are Destroyed, What Can the Righteous Do? (Luke 11:-14-28)

How do we carry the burden of other people’s tragedies, empathize without being overwhelmed, persevere in caring for the weary and wounded (even when your own wounds may be festering)? What do we do when the attempt to empathize and help others carry their burdens wears us down? What comeback do we have when the enemy confronts us with the claim that the foundations are being destroyed – and the world situation seems to bear it out – and the conclusion seems logical that there’s nothing to be done but shrug our shoulders and fall into mere “survival mode”? How does a Christian respond to a world that seems determined to destroy us all? How do we keep our sanity in the midst of so much chaos going on all around us? Compassion fatigue is a term that describes the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of helping others (often through experiences of stress or trauma), without adequate breaks or support. Our world’s many hotspots of violence, terrorism, war, starvation, and other human tragedies can quickly bring us to the border of compassion collapse. One prominent psychologist tells us that trauma victims will be the new missions frontier of the 21 st century (Diane Langberg). How do we keep our sanity in the midst of so much chaos going on in our world right now? There has to be a reference point for it that’s much bigger than we are. In Ps. 11, the answer to the question about what can the righteous do seems to be that there’s nothing to be done; the cause is hopeless; we may as well give up and just focus on self. But the psalmist’s answer is about affirming the truth of God’s sovereignty: He’s on His throne, in His holy temple; no matter how disastrous the outlook, He sees, He tests the children of Adam, He examines the righteous, but He despises the wicked and their violence; they will not ultimately triumph.

Scripture References: Luke 11:14-28

Related Topics: Burden, Luke 11:14-28, Suffering, Tragedies | More Messages from Dr. David Carey Dixon | Download Audio

From Series: "Sunday Service"

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