Eve Strange cravings. That first flutter. Her body was changing, growing and stretching in unpredictable and unsettling ways. The first mother in history conceived a child, carried him to term and gave birth without ever knowing what to expect next. She didn’t have a girlfriend to confide in when Adam just didn’t understand her moods. She had no one to assure the young mother that sudden clumsiness was normal or that the awful bloated feelings would pass. Her experience was the ultimate natural childbirth—she made it without the benefit of an obstetrician, a midwife or a drop of pain killer. She couldn’t even run to her mother! And that was just the pregnancy. She recalled cradling Cain in her arms as a newborn and gently leading him to nurse for the first time. She remembered fingering his tiny hands and counting all his toes, one by one. She didn’t know she could love someone so much. How, oh how, would she ever be able to be what he needed her to be—his mother? Eve answered her own question when she spoke in the afterglow of giving birth. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” No one was there to inform Eve about the significance of what had just transpired. They didn’t have to. She got it. She instinctively knew what every mother knows in an instant: She had not brought forth this miracle by her own power. And almost simultaneously, she knew she would not be able to raise him by her own strength either. The very first mother in history would have to raise her child the very same way mothers throughout history have conceived and nurtured children—fully relying on God’s help. If that fact wasn’t obvious then, it soon would be. Like the time she had to steal away for a moment alone to cry because it was the first time she had to punish him. And when he bickered with his brother. And when his career choice didn’t work out. And whenever her own poor choices threatened to scar her children’s future. Eve was the first to experience joy and heartache as a mother. But no one could tell her then that she certainly wouldn’t be the last. [Eve] said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” Genesis 4:1
Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, for never leaving me alone. I take comfort in your guidance and care. Assigned
Reading:
Genesis 4:1–26
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