THE ORDINATION OF MOTHERHOOD
Part 8 * THE FOURTH WATCH

“Tell the older women to be reverent in their behavior, teaching what is good . . .
That way they can mentor young women to love their husbands and children . . .”
(Titus 2:3, 4).

Motherhood has its seasons. At last we are getting to the FOURTH WATCH. Many mothers flake out at this watch. They think they have finished with this “motherhood thing” and can get on with other things in life. This is the season when our children grow and leave the nest.

Of course, we find time to do many other things in this season of life, but we never discard motherhood. Motherhood is who we are. It’s who God created us to be. We do other things, but we ARE mothers. Physically and innately. It will never change until we meet Jesus face to face.

This fourth watch should be a time of the enlarging motherhood, rather than the lessening. Sadly, because of society’s trend many women are left bereft at this season. I often meet fellow older couples when traveling back and forth to Above Rubies retreats. I feel sad when I hear they only raised two children and now these children are at colleges in other states with no thought of getting married. This is the time they should be embracing grandchildren, but there are none in sight. Even when their children are married, they do not want children! They have been conditioned with the wrong mindset.

As our children leave our nest, we should be adding more and more to our family. Family is a living and growing thing. It should never stagnate, but always be growing. Grandchildren coming. Then great-grandchildren coming.

Apart from enjoying grandchildren and great-grandchildren, God has given the older women a responsibility. A divine mandate. A biblical command. We encourage, train, and teach by word and example the young mothers. We teach and show them how to be great wives and mothers. We show them how to love their husbands. We show them and inspire them how to embrace motherhood and keep their homes in order.

If we are not faithful to fulfil this mandate, we fail the next generation. There are very few older mothers taking up this mantle. This is why we have myriads of women who have left their homes and gone AWOL! Did I say AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave)? Yes. Motherhood is the home army that God talks about in Psalm 68:11, 12. Mothers are needed in their homes to raise their children. When mothers leave their homes, the enemy has a chance to get hold of the minds and souls of the children. Unless we are with our children, we don’t know how they are being mothered (at day care) or what they are being taught at school.

Most older mothers are out at work and therefore not showing to the younger generation the role of the mother. The younger generation has no example.

But many will reply: “But there’s nothing to do at home now.” Dear mother on the fourth watch, God doesn't take away your motherhood career just because your children have grown! You are entering a greater realm of motherhood. The double, triple portion watch! There is a world of afflicted and hurting people waiting to be loved, encouraged, and ministered to. Ask God who He wants you to reach out to. Ask Him who He wants you to gather into your home to love and nurture. Now that your children are grown, you have more time to minister to the broken-hearted and to uplift and strengthen the downcast and disillusioned.

Your home can be filled with showing hospitality and you’ll never have a bored moment. In fact, as you get a vision to pour out your nurturing anointing by blessing people around your table, you’ll hardly have enough time to minister to every mother and family that God puts upon your heart.

Rise up, older mothers. You don’t have time to waste your life earning a bit of extra pocket money. You have a world of young mothers who need help; single mothers who need uplifting and strengthening; young singles who need inspiring in the ways of God instead of the ways of the world; older people who are lonely and have no one to care for them; children who need caring for; those who are sick and in prison; and the hurting, troubled, and brokenhearted all around you (Matthew 25:31-46). You have a full-time ministry.

God has given you a home! Don't vacate it. Your home is the greatest place to serve God in the entire world. Ask God who He wants you to invite into your home for a meal. Ask a family over to supper to encourage and bless them. Ask a young mother, with her children, over to lunch to bless her and encourage her. Or take her on a picnic. Open your home in hospitality. Open your doors wide. You will never be bored again.

And start proactively encouraging your children to get married. And encourage them to have children. That’s what the Bible tells us to do (Jeremiah 29:6).

The fourth watch is the last watch of the night. This is the time of the morning when the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12 and 14). It’s when Jesus came walking on the water to help the disciples who were in the storm (Matthew 14:25-33). This a time for miracles. This is a time for you to allow the Holy Spirit to move through you to touch many lives. This is the time to minister “good cheer” to all God sends you to.

And it’s a time to pray like you’ve never prayed before. No excuses. No little children around to disturb you! Pray for your family. Pray for the nation. Pray for the world.

1 Thessalonians 5:6: “Let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, please help me to take on my responsibility as an older mother. You have given me the responsibility to train my own children for motherhood. And there are so many other mothers around me. Many are discouraged, lonely, and overwhelmed. Show me how I can encourage them and lead them into your truth and Your ways. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I’m in the Fourth Watch. I will not give up until I reach the finishing line!

THE ORDINATION OF MOTHERHOOD
Part 7 * Continuing the THIRD WATCH

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage;
be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:
for the LORD thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.”
(Psalm 144:12).

I gave some biblical examples of young people doing great things in their youth In Part 5. What about secular history? The following are a few examples of many we could list:

At 16 years ALEXANDER THE GREAT ascended to the throne and founded his first colony. At 18 years he began expanding his domain.

At 17 years JOAN OF ARC turned a war around.

In 2010, at only 14 years, LAURA DEKKER achieved her goal of sailing around the world by herself. Her two year long, 27,000-mile journey took her around the globe. Her record has yet to be beaten.

At 13 years old, JORDAN ROMERO of the United States held the record for becoming the youngest climber to scale Mt. Everest, and at age 15 years, to climb seven of the “Seven Summits” (the tallest mountain on each continent). 

BOBBY FISCHER is a household name in the game of chess. He won the US Chess Championship at 14 years old and became a Grand Master at the age of 15, the youngest of all time.

At 15 years, CHARLES ALGERNON PARSONS invented the precursor to the modern automobile.

At only 15 years, LOUIS BRAILLE (who was blind) invented the Braille System of reading based on a battlefield code a soldier had told him about. He published his first book about the system at the age of 19. He later went on to add math and musical symbols.

As a young person, SOPHIE SCHOLL risked her own life to stand up for her beliefs. She was involved, along with her brother, Hans, in what was called The White Rose movement. It is the most famous of the civilian resistance movements against Nazi Germany. These young students from the University of Munich wrote and distributed anti-Nazi and anti-war leaflets.

At 21 years, the Gestapo arrested Sophie and she was beheaded for high treason. Before she was beheaded she said: “Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go. But what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” the following are further quotes from Sophie:

“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone who will give himself up undividedly to a righteous cause?”

“The real damage is done by those millions who want to ‘survive.’ The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves Those who don’t take measure of their own strength for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature.

“One must have a tough mind, and a soft heart.”

“Laws change, conscience doesn’t.”

“I will cling to the rope God has thrown me in Jesus Christ even when my numb hands can no longer feel it.”

You can read more about Sophie at  https://timeline.com/sophie-scholl-white-rose-guillotine-6b3901042c98. You can also watch more about her life on the recent movie, DEATH OF A NATION, produced by Dinesh D’Souza. Did you see it when it was in the theaters? If not, get the DVD and show it to your young people. Better still, gather in all their friends to watch it too. It is an action-packed documentary with history every young person needs to know.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“I thank You, Father, that You have created each of my children uniquely and for a specific destiny. Please give me the wisdom to help inspire them into the destiny You have planned for them. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

My children belong to God. He is the ultimate Director of their lives.

THE ORDINATION OF MOTHERHOOD
Part 6 * Continuing the THIRD WATCH

“That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth;
that our daughters may be as corner stones,
polished after the similitude of a palace.”
(Psalm 144:12).

The above Scripture gives an amazing description of God’s plan for our young people. It’s important to understand God’s plan in a society that promotes prolonged adolescence.

Our sons are to be GROWN UP in their youth! They are beginning to take life seriously, to take responsibility, to act like grown-ups! They understand they are preparing to provide a home for the wife God will give them and to provide for a family. They haven’t time to fritter away these valuable years.

Young’s Literal Translation says: “Our sons are as plants, BECOMING GREAT IN THEIR YOUTH.” They don’t have to wait until they are older to become great. They can become great while in their youth. The word “great” is gadal and means “to make large in body, mind, and honor; to exceed; to be excellent; magnificent” (2 Chronicles 22:5).

They are to act like PRINCES. Psalm 45;16 says: “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.” What a glorious mandate for raising sons.

These young men are ready for marriage and embracing a family when God brings the right wife to them. Today, many men in their late twenties are still balking at marriage and leaving many beautiful daughters waiting and longing to be married and raise a family. The Bible picture is opposite. Malachi 2:15 speaks of “the wife of his youth.” Read also Proverbs 5:18 and Isaiah 54:4, 6. Proverbs 2:17 and Joel 1:8 speak of “the husband of her youth.” And Psalm 127:4 speaks of “the children of the youth.” The word ‘youth” in these passages is nu’uwr meaning “the state of juvenility.”

Young men can influence society even in their youth. Paul speaks to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4;12: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an EXAMPLE of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity in spirit, in faith, in purity.” Timothy would have only been 18 – 20 years when he began working with Paul (1 Corinthians 16:10, 11).

The Bible describes our daughters in the context a palace. They are royalty. They are princesses.

The WEB says: “Our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a place.”

The NLT says: “May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace.”

At first thought, we wonder why our daughters are described as pillars. Shouldn’t it be our sons? Pillars are strong. Strong enough to bear the weight of a building. And a palace is not a shack, but a huge building.

God wants our daughters to be strong too. We must raise them to be strong physically, ready for child-bearing and the great responsibility and weight of raising a family. We raise them to be strong in purity, strong in their convictions, strong in truth, and strong to commit to the plan God has chosen for them as women.

I love to think of our daughters as the four Ps. They are PRINCESSES, revealing their royal status. They are POLISHED, trained and ready to face their destiny. They are PILLARS, ready and able to hold up the weight of raising a family. And they are carved and sculptured for the beauty of a PALACE. Pillars are not only strong, but the pillars of a palace are decorated and a beautiful feature of the palace.

Let’s remind our daughters that they are royalty. They belong to a royal kingdom, the greatest kingdom of all kingdoms. They belong to the King of kings and Lord of lords. They do not act like the ordinary young person today. They are set apart as royalty.

We encourage them to speak like a daughter of the King of kings. To walk like a princess. To learn to sit, act, and react like a princess. To dress beautifully. We encourage them to embrace their femininity and glory in their womanhood. We want them to fulfil the purpose for which God created them. Because He created them female, they bring the greatest glory to God in embracing their femininity. Therefore, in a pro-genderless society, we encourage our daughters to lift high their banner of beautiful femininity.  

Don’t forget to tell your daughters about the three Ps. And remind them that it’s not just a pretty face that is beautiful. That is superficial beauty. Every daughter is beautiful when she smiles. When is polite. When she is thankful and grateful. When she understands etiquette. When she puts others before herself. When she is godly.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Dear Father God, please anoint me by the power of Your Holy Spirit to raise sons and daughters to be princes and princesses in all the earth, showing to the world that they belong to the kingdom of heaven. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am raising young people for the glory of God and the glory of the nation.

THE ORDINATION OF MOTHERHOOD
Part 5 * Continuing the THIRD WATCH

“The glory of young men is their strength”
(Proverbs 20:29).

I would like to share a few more thoughts about adolescence age from 12 – 18 years. Eighteen years is recognized as the “coming of age” in our nation today. It used to be 21 years when I was growing up in New Zealand. When we turned 21 years each person enjoyed a big celebration party and received “the key of the door.” The parents presented the new adult with a big decorated key made from cardboard or more durable material. Everyone at the party signed the key and it was often displayed on the recipient’s wall.

The age was also 21 years in USA until 1971. At that time the 26th Amendment was passed to change it to 18 years. One of the reasons was because of the debate about the Vietnam War. Many felt that if young men were old enough to be drafted into the armed forces, they should be old enough to vote. The slogan used to overwhelmingly pass The Amendment was: “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote.” And this was also the age when most of the youth finished high school.

But that meant the drinking age was also lowered, with very negative results. Obviously, our young people weren’t as mature as they thought. Thirteen years later in 1984, Congress passed the act to raise the drinking age back to 21 years.

However, although the ages below 18 are looked upon as a time of adolescence, we must remember that these should be years of training and inspiring our children to maturity and adulthood. We don’t want our young people to “hang out” and live like so many teenagers today with no vision and no goal expect to please themselves and live for entertainment.

At the age of 13 years for sons and 12 years for daughters Jewish parents organize a Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah for their children, encouraging them from childhood into adulthood. The word “teenager” is not in the Bible. We should never settle for the “teenage mode,” but train and motivate them toward maturity and adulthood.

As we read the Bible we see many examples of young people who lived disciplined and courageous lives. They were not bound by their youth, but faced their responsibilities and performed great exploits. The following are a few examples:

JOSEPH would have only been about 17 years of age when he was torn away from his family and sold as a slave to Potiphar in Egypt. He did not fade away in self-pity because of what happened to him but worked hard and was soon made overseer over all of Potiphar’s house. Potiphar so trusted this young man that he left everything in Joseph’s care. Read Genesis 1:1-6.

THE TWO SPIES who went to spy out Jericho were only young men. The Bible describes them as na’ar, the same word used for all our examples (Joshua 6:22, 23). The word na’ar describes a young person “from the age of infancy to adolescence.”

SAMUEL would have only been about 12 or 13 years when God called him to the ministry (1 Samuel 3).

DAVID would have only been about 17 years of age when he killed Goliath. Many commentators say that realistically he may have been between the ages 12 – 15! Check below for further evidence. At this young age he had already killed a bear and a lion when protecting his father’s sheep! Listen to David’s confession as he faces Goliath. This is a young man who knows His God!

“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee . . . that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:45, 46).

SOLOMON, who “EXCEEDED all the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom” (1 Kings 10:23) would have been no more than 20 years when he began his reign. Josephus, the Jewish historian puts his age at only 14 years. At the very beginning of his reign, as a young man, he executed justice and judgement.

ZADOK was a “young man (na’ar) mighty of valor” (1 Chronicles 12:28).

JEROBOAM was also a young man who showed imitative and hard work which caused King Solomon to promote him: “And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor: and Solomon seeing the young man (na’ar) that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph” (1 Kings 11:28).

JOSIAH became king at eight years of age. But at only 16 years, he began to seek God with all his heart. 2 Chronicles 34:3 says: “In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young (16 years), he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year (20 years) he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the cared images, and the molten images.” He became a great reformer at a young age and brought about the greatest revival in the history of Israel and Judah. Read the whole chapter 34.

DANIEL and his three fellow Hebrews, HANANIAH, MISHAAL, and AZARIAH were very young men when they were taken as captives to Babylon. Most Bible commentators say they would have been no more than 15 years. Some speculate they could have been between 11 – 13 years. The Hebrew word used here is yeled and means “child, youth, young man.”

These young men were chosen to be taught for three years in the ways of Babylon. They were given Babylonian names (the names of their gods) and their plan was to divorce them from the ways of Israel and all their previous convictions. But at this young age, Daniel stands strong for God. He also stands strong in his convictions to not partake of the Babylonian food which included meat from forbidden animals and food and wine dedicated to idols before given to them (Daniel 1).

We read many more courageous stories of these four young men in the book of Daniel, whereas nothing more is heard of all the other young people who would have also been chosen by the king. Obviously, they gradually slid into the ways of Babylon and therefore had no influence for God.

PRAYER:

“Dear Father God, I ask You for wisdom as I train and inspire my young people. Show me how to give them responsibility and lead them to maturity. I don’t want them to stay in a state of juvenility. Amen.

AFFIRMATION:

I’m training my young people for the purposes God has chosen for them before the foundation of the world!

DAVID’S AGE WHEN HE KILLED GOLIATH.
Jesse had eight sons. David was the youngest. When he went to check out the war between the Israelites and the Philistines, his three oldest brothers were there to fight. Young men had to be 20 years of age before they could go to war (Exodus 38:26; Numbers 1; Numbers 14:31-33; Ezra 3:8; and 2 Chronicles 31:17). That means there were five under 20! Some suggest there may have been twins in the family. I don’t believe that each son would have been born a year apart. Mothers nursed their babies totally in those days and would have at least two to three years between children. It makes David’s age rather young!