The child of light may walk in darkness, and the mother's heart is heavy with the absence of her little one. Yet hear what the Spirit says concerning such a time: the weaned child is content, his desires lie still, and he rests quietly, free from even a trace of anxiety, knowing nothing about how he is to be fed except that it is by another’s care. Pray that your daughter’s soul be thus weaned from the fretting that drives her back to bondage, that she leave herself wholly in the hands of a tender God.
You ask that mother and child be housed together under the care of a treatment center, and this is a natural cry. Nature itself says, “Do not sin against the child.” She misses her mother, and the instincts of humanity plead that they not be torn apart. But let Divine Grace turn the streams of affection in the channel of wisdom. If the mother is truly to be restored, she must first be as a child herself, receiving the kingdom with nothing of merit, no self-righteousness, but only the humble, dependent cry, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” That holy child Samuel was blessed with an eminently holy mother, and your own faithfulness is not unseen. The mother forms the boy’s character, and I am persuaded she has most influence over the sons, and daughters too. Your prayers and tears are not wasted.
The Lord knows them that are His, even when they walk in darkness and have no light. It may be that your daughter, fearing the Lord yet entangled in this gloom, will soon find her sun rising again. The child of God feels his sonship in doubt, and he is distressed indeed; but the Master turns no such away. Instead, it is the man who must grow down and become like a child. Pray that she come to Jesus with no battling of self-righteousness, only saying, “I love you because I have been a poor, abused child; I want to be good.” There is a humbleness of association in the little ones, and Christ receives them so.
Let not the Church sin against this child by failure in anything to which conscience calls us. We are a mother, and though we are a poor mother if our God is not with us, yet is He ever faithful. Every babe cast into our lap by Providence is put there that we may train it for God and obtain a reward at the last. The daughter whom you have trained for Christ shall yet be your dearest comfort upon earth. The great Father mourns His prodigal, and Jesus weeps over the unwilling; so do we mourn with you, and so do we rejoice in sympathy with Him over every sinner that repents.
He is a Child born, and unto us a Son is given. Christ’s character is more aptly pictured by that of a child than of a man, humble, trusting, telling His heart out. That same holy Child is able to bring your daughter through this valley and to place that little girl once more in her mother’s arms. Pray on; the mother of Moses received her wages, and the promise stands sure for all who nurse these little ones for God. She did well because she believed, and by faith Isaac was born, the child according to promise. So shall your daughter be born again unto a lively hope, and the laughter of doubt shall be swallowed up in the joy of the promise fulfilled.
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Even so, the earthly reunion you seek is but a shadow of that nearer union when Christ clasps His redeemed and the family of God is parted no more. Be as a weaned child yourself, leaving your burden with the Lord who hears the cry of the anxious soul, and trust that He who made the mother’s heart will not despise its breaking nor its plea.
