Faithful Women in the Old Testament | Mother's Day 2025

Summary

This Mother’s Day, we heard about four faithful women throughout the Old Testament: Hagar, Leah, Jochebed, and Hannah. Each of these women walked through a trial of some sort; from infertility to sending your own son down a river, there was no shortage of hardship. But while the experiences of these women were probably not how they’d envisioned their lives turning out, all the “switchbacks” and setbacks were where God was leading them the entire time.

Key Takeaways

• Hagar
  • Truth: God is infinite and intimate.
  • Implication: Your status doesn’t determine your significance.
  • Application: Offer all your “ordinary” things as your spiritual act of worship.
• Leah
  • Truth: God satisfies and dignifies.
  • Implication: Your family (and fertility) isn’t your identity.
  • Application: Focus on your first love.
• Jochebed
  • Truth: God reigns and redeems.
  • Implication: You can know peace without knowing what’s next.
  • Application: Raise and release your children by faith, not fear.
• Hannah
  • Truth: God answers and anoints.
  • Implication: God wants your dependence, not your performance.
  • Application: Offer up big, bold, kingdom-minded prayers.

Discussing and Applying the Sermon

• What does offering up your “ordinary” things look like? What could it look like?
• We have a God-shaped void in the human heart that is only meant for God to satisfy. Where do you try to fit other things into that gap? How can you focus on finding God to be the most satisfying thing you could have?
• Where do you live a life of fear, looking to be in control? How can you find rest in the one with ultimate control over everything?
• Do you find yourself trying to work your way closer to God, or do you trust that because you have Christ, you have everything you need? How can you live more focused on dependence, not performance?