Sufficient Hope

If you could give a new mom the perfect gift, what would it be? Would it be full night's sleep? Maybe you'd give her a hot meal without interruption or maybe the confidence that she'll be a good mom. Those would be precious gifts to any mom. But what do moms need most?

More than any of these things, moms need the gospel. This isn't just a "Jesus juke" or an attempt to be more "spiritually-minded." It's the fundamental truth that the gospel fulfills our greatest needs. The gospel isn't something basic that mature Christians move past. It isn't the stepping stone for the really important things in life. The gospel is our lifeline. It's our hope and our future. It's our daily help and comfort.

How does the gospel apply to moms? In her new book, Sufficient Hope: Gospel Meditations and Prayers for Moms, Christina Fox seeks to apply the hope and help of the gospel to our lives as moms:

Whatever experiences we face in motherhood, we all need Jesus--and he is sufficient. That's what this book is about: our need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. In every moment, in every season, and whatever our circumstances, the gospel is sufficient to give us hope. (14)

Christina's book is composed of short meditations on the gospel and practical applications to various aspects and challenges of motherhood. Each chapter closes with a gospel-centered prayer highlighting the focus of that chapter. In modern discussions, too often "the gospel" is left undefined or poorly explained. Thankfully, Christina gives a comprehensive explanation of what the gospel is and why we need it.

Our understanding of the gospel should always begin with who Jesus is and what He's done for us. As Christina reminds us:

Jesus Christ came to rescue you and me from our greatest problem: the sin that separates us from God. He came to live the life that we could not live and to die the death that we deserved for our sin. In doing so, he rescued us from our slavery to sin. He freed us from trying to live life on our own apart from God. He delivered us from seeking our hope outside of him. And he has promised to be for us what we can't be for ourselves. (51)

Because Jesus has lived and died for us, we are at peace with God, we are united to Christ, and the Spirit is at work in us. God's grace is sufficient for us, and no matter what we face in our lives and as mothers we can rest and trust in Him to be with us and to preserve us (44). Life is hard. Motherhood is hard. But we aren't alone:

Whatever we face in our day--whether hardship or joy-- the grand story of the Bible gives shape to our expectations. It explains our longings. It gives hope to our struggles. And it points us to the glory to come. (45)

When we go through challenges and struggles, Christina calls us to remember the gospel, to remember who Jesus is and what He's done for us. Jesus is our hope and our help.

The gospel also reminds us of the grace and mercy that God has given and continues to give us every day. As moms, we want to be perfect. We hold ourselves up to impossible standards. We want to believe that we can do all the right things and protect our children from all harm. But we're not perfect. We're sinners, and we can't possibly do it all.

In God's grace, we have forgiveness for our sins, and we can find rest. We don't need to worry over the future or our failures. We don't have to shoulder our burdens alone (95).

With this gospel foundation, Christina addresses specific challenges that we face as moms. These include finding contentment, fighting loneliness, what to do when our children sin or are hurting, and how to handle guilt. With each topic, she graciously applies the truths of the gospel to our lives as moms.

We all need the gospel, in good times and bad. Whatever our daily circumstances, we need to remember and dwell on who Jesus is and what He's done for us:

Turn to Jesus and keep your eyes fixed on him. Remember the story of redemption, and recite what God has done for you. Remember why things in life don't work out as they should, what God did about it through his Son, and how he gives you great hope for the future, when all things that are broken will be made whole. (46)

I strongly recommend Christina's book to moms, both new and experienced. I hope you are as blessed by this book as I've been.