Attributes of God That Moms Are Not Called to Emulate
Mom Superpowers
If you could have any superpower as a mom, which would you choose? Maybe you’d like the flexibility to be everywhere at once—watching over your children at home, school, practice, and all the rest. How would you like to read your children’s minds or have the capacity to get your to-do list done every day and still have time and energy to spare?
While those abilities are tempting, we’re not really supermoms, and we were never meant to be. By God’s good design, we’re dependent creatures, and we look to the Lord for “life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Nevertheless, sometimes we move through our days acting as though we are self-sufficient, everything does depend on us, and we really are in control. We can even feel like that’s what’s expected of us.
As moms, we need to remember that only God is God and that this reality is a good thing. While there are some attributes of God that we’re called to emulate, others belong to him alone. Understanding and embracing this truth can transform our parenting.
Only God Is God, and That’s a Good Thing
Just as our young children depend on us, we depend on God. But though our children should grow increasingly independent as they age, we moms are never meant to outgrow our dependence on the Lord. It’s when we resist this reality, when we insist on doing things our way, that there are problems. However, a humble recognition of who God is and who we are (and aren’t) leads to our rescue from this false sense of self-sufficiency.
Every Hour I Need You
Katie Faris
Through personal stories and biblical reflections, Katie Faris walks with women, helping them contemplate God’s unchanging character and see how his purposes are at work, even in the everyday moments of motherhood.
There’s no one else like God. Scripture says he is incomparable:
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
nor are there any works like yours. —Psalm 86:8To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One. —Isaiah 40:25Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
or the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love. —Micah 7:18
We can’t label God or stuff him into any of our boxes. Our words fall short in describing him. Yet our Lord chooses to reveal himself in his word. American author and evangelist A. W. Tozer defined an attribute as being “whatever God has in any way revealed as being true of Himself,”1 and studying God’s attributes is one way to get to know him better for who he truly is.
Knowing God by Studying His Attributes
Though God is one, and we can never truly separate his attributes from one another, looking at them individually is an attempt to wrap our finite minds around God’s infinite, mind-boggling nature. When we do, it’s helpful to distinguish between what theologians call God’s communicable and incommunicable attributes.
Many of God’s attributes are communicable—meaning that they’re meant for us too. God communicates, shares, and passes them on to his people. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 explains, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” There’s this mysterious transfer that takes place. As we behold God, as we spend more time in his presence and get to know him better, we become more and more like him. Examples of these attributes include God’s love, patience, goodness, and gentleness. As moms, we’re meant to imitate these virtues and increasingly display them in our parenting.
As moms, we need to remember that only God is God, and that this reality is a good thing.
But God’s incommunicable attributes are all his, and he doesn’t share them with anyone else. They include his self-existence, self-sufficiency, incomprehensibility, eternality, unchangeableness, and sovereignty, as well as the fact that he is present everywhere, all-powerful, and all-knowing. These attributes offer great hope and freedom to believing moms.
Why Does This Matter?
God has both communicable and incommunicable attributes, and both are important. But what difference does it make to us, as moms, that some attributes only belong to God—that they’re not meant for us, and that we aren’t called to emulate them? God’s incommunicable attributes yield three practical encouragements—as well as many more—to moms:
1. We don’t have to be supermoms.
More than anything else in my life, motherhood has illuminated my need for God. It’s revealed my weaknesses and limitations, showing me what I’m not and will never be. And though I can be tempted to feel guilty and discouraged, or even to compare myself with other moms who seem to have it all together, the Lord’s teaching me that there’s a better way. Our very limitations can lead us to the Lord and his sufficiency (2 Cor. 12:9). We moms can’t do all the things, be everywhere at once, or say all the right words; but God is all-powerful, present everywhere, all-knowing, and all-wise. We need him, and so do our families.
2. We can depend on our great God.
The results of parenting don’t ultimately rest on our efforts. Isn’t this good news? We lack resources, but not God. We lack power, but not God. And through Jesus, we can draw near to God in prayer (Heb. 4:16), casting our cares on him (1 Pet. 5:7), confident in his ability to do what we can’t do. We can’t change our children’s hearts, but he can. We can’t save their souls, but he can.
3. We can trust God.
When anxiety and fear about health, safety, choices, and the future weigh on our shoulders, God’s sovereignty reassures us that even though we feel out of control, God remains in complete control. Because he is good, wise, and powerful—and never changes in his nature—we can trust him.
Motherhood Is Holy Ground
Motherhood becomes holy ground when God uses it to open our eyes to see who we are—our finiteness, our dependence on the Lord, and our need for him—and to draw us closer to him. In a world where we often feel like we need to be the strong ones, God welcomes us to come to him humbly, as children: “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4). In God’s kingdom, humility and weakness aren’t frowned upon but honored, and the self-existent one welcomes us. So let’s go to him, pouring out our sorrows and asking him to sustain and help us.
We weren’t made to carry the weight of the world—or even the weight of our families—on our own shoulders. Rather, God’s incommunicable attributes free us from that burden and offer hope in someone—named Jesus—who is our true and ultimate hero. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3; see also Col. 1:15–17). Having rescued us from sin through his death and resurrection, our Lord’s power provides all we need for life—including mom life—"through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Pet. 1:3).
Instead of emulating God’s incommunicable attributes, we worship him for being all that we’re not. We adore him for being incomprehensible and beyond our understanding, and we praise him for acting in incomprehensible ways, such as saving helpless sinners. Ultimately, we surrender to the Lord and trust him with our families.
Notes:
- A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1961), 12.
Katie Faris is the author of Every Hour I Need You: 30 Meditations for Moms on the Character of God.
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