Who Tries Her Hardest

David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth.”

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, a video circulated online of a man walking away from a mountain lion down a trail back toward his vehicle. He yelled, threw stones, and made himself bigger. He never turned away from the lion but steadily filmed the entire event as he retreated to safety. We know he made it because we’ve seen the recorded proof. We’ve seen several videos like this. The ones who survived encounters with wild animals were those who remained calm until they were able to escape.

King David was a man of steady heart and mind. Long before he took the throne and ruled Israel, he tended sheep for his family. Sometimes a lamb was attacked by a lion or a bear. According to 1 Samuel 17, David did not play dead, nor did he run. He remained calm.

He explained, “I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him” (1 Samuel 17:35, KJV). I like that word smote; it’s so much more elegant than punched. But let’s remember something: We are talking about wild animals. David didn’t run but confronted these threats to his sheep. He clubbed the bear and grabbed the lion by its beard, which was very close to its massive teeth. But according to Scripture, the lion dropped the lamb and David proceeded to kill the beast.

Now what does all this lion and bear (oh my!) talk have to do with us as mommas? When I think of a momma who tries her hardest, I think of King David. I think of women who face whatever comes with all the strength we have. We know that the Lord is with us, and though we might be afraid, we handle whatever needs to be done.

That’s you, my friend. You manage the situation with the Lord’s help. It could be a difficult job that you keep working at to put food on the table, or it could be the exhaustion you feel when your baby finally drifts off to sleep or when you’ve finished helping with the homework and your teenagers have turned out their lights. It could be sickness or discouragement; but you keep going and you chase that bear or lion with prayer and your reliance on the Lord. For the momma who tries her hardest, remember that you aren’t shepherding your flock on your own. The Lord is with you. He will give you strength.

Tonight we pray for the momma who tries her hardest every day. Lord, she gives and pours and does all the things, and most of the time she wonders if it’s ever enough. She questions whether or not her family knows just how much she thinks, worries, and prays for them every single day. Tonight, Lord, we ask You to lean in and speak peace to her heart. You see everything she does, and You celebrate her. You are proud of her. Help her feel Your love tonight.

We ask in Jesus’s name, amen.

Lord, help me to trust that You can tame these “lions” and “bears” in my life: