A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

Proverbs 10:1

It is fitting that the specific word we are studying over these next 12 days is “mother” because in the USA we are deep into our holiday of “Mother’s Day”, which, like everything else, has become ridiculously commercialized. Maybe we can bring some honest and helpful and joyful clarity to the beautiful role of mothers within God’s eternal plan and purposes. 

[Note: The two other words we will search for in these 31 Days are “wife” and “woman”. Interestingly, in these verses about “wife” and “woman” we find their lessons to us in the foundational influence of mothers.]

In our key verse today, we find the phrase “foolish son” which is applied to daughters as well. We’ve covered the word foolish in depth already so we won’t belabor that specifically other than to say that for every truly foolish person in the world there is a mother who lives in sorrow. This mother is not just sorrowful sometimes about her child, the intent of this verse is that she is always sorrowful about her foolish child.

I think about this when I hear the many news stories of murderers on the loose or a drunk driver causing the death of innocents or the kidnapping of a child. All these criminals have a mother and if she is still living, she is living in sorrow. 

The word “sorrow” is translated in other Bible versions as: grief and heartache, but the good ‘ole King James Version gives the best view into the intent of this verse.

“…but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.”

Ain’t it the truth! Moms, you know this is true! You may not have the burden of a truly foolish child, but even when your otherwise wise child gets themselves into a foolish mess, you know this kind of heaviness. Our minds are heavy with a million thoughts covering everything from, “Could I have prevented this?” to “How can I help get them out of this?” to “Am I supposed to help them get out of this?” Our emotions are weighed down with every possible negative emotion: anger, frustration, helplessness, confusion, worry, etc…And that is all wrapped up in our “Mother Love” for this child. And then we think about our other kids, especially, if our children still live in our home. How will this affect the other kids? How do I keep life normal for them? It is a relentless and unforgiving hamster wheel!

Even our physical bodies seem unbearably heavy! We can’t sleep. We don’t eat. Every step is like trudging through quicksand and we are sure we will drown in the muck. Our posture even slumps. We try to be brave and we try to smile and hide the heaviness, but that eventually becomes impossible. This is especially true if our child is truly the foolish child who repeatedly makes the foolish choices and tries to run from the consequences. This mom’s yoke is heavy beyond words!

Any solution is vastly complicated and massive volumes have been written for this mom. Here, I will lovingly remind any mom with a foolish son or daughter of her “But God…” God!

My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26 [Bold Mine]