You are in a thicket of questions, tangled in words and signs, and you long for a clear path, direction in time and place, for yourself and for your mother. The air is full of half-heard phrases, and your heart clings to that cry: "Not more, not less, Lord!" I know that cry. It is the gasp of a soul that wants only God, purely God, without the muddle of human invention. And I want you to know this: the Lord who made the ear hears you, and He is not playing riddles with His children. He gives guidance, real guidance, step by step, moment by moment.
You speak of being "in works," while your mother is "in questions." Perhaps you feel the weight of doing, the burden of trying to get everything right, while she wrestles with unanswered things. But see here, both of you are in the same school, the school where Christ Himself draws near. The Master does not stand far off, examining us like a harsh schoolmaster; He comes and puts His hand on our shoulder and asks only one thing: "Do you believe on the Son of God?" That is the question that settles all other questions. Not "Have you untangled every syllable?" Not "Have you performed every work perfectly?" But "Do you trust Me?" In that trust, the works find their proper place, and the questions lose their sharp edge.
I hear you reaching after a word you heard, "I will bless them, my people." Let that word sit gently on your spirit like dew on dry grass. It is not a puzzle to be cracked; it is a promise to be received. The blessing of God does not hang upon your cleverness in deciphering languages or your exactness in phrasing. It hangs upon the free grace of Him who said, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." He does not give in bits and pieces, more or less, according to our anxious calculations. He gives Himself, fully and freely, in Jesus Christ.
You ask for direction in time and place. Then stand still for a moment, dear soul, and see the salvation of the Lord. When the children of Israel were hemmed in by the sea and the enemy, with mountains on either side, the word came: "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord." There are seasons when the best thing you can do is stop striving, stop measuring your words, stop fretting over whether you have added or subtracted. The Lord who guided His people with a pillar of cloud and fire will guide you. He knows the precise moment and the exact way. He has not forgotten to be gracious. Would you ever ask such a thing, "Hath God forgotten to be gracious?" The very question is absurd if you speak it aloud. The sun might as well forget to rise, the ocean forget to ebb and flow. God cannot forget His own nature, which is love, nor His own promise, which is mercy.
And for your dear mother, whether she is still walking this earth or has passed into the presence of the Lord, commit her to Him. If she is still here, the same Shepherd who leads you will lead her. If she is already in eternity, then she is in the safest hands of all. The Lord's guidance does not stop at the grave; He has said, "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." There is an "afterward" for every believer, a homecoming beyond the fog. You need not fear that your love for her, or her questions, or your works, will fall between the cracks of some cosmic riddle. God is not the author of confusion; He is the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep.
So bring your tangled thoughts and lay them before Him. Do not try to force a perfect sentence or a flawless prayer. The publican in the temple only smote his breast and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner," and he went down to his house justified. That is the plain, simple way. Put your trust in the Lord. Cease from your own strivings, and let Him undertake for you. His guidance is sure, His love is steadfast, and His word is exactly what you need, no more, no less.
O Lord, our hiding place and our portion, look upon this troubled soul and upon the mother so dearly loved. Scatter the mist of questions, and shine the clear light of Christ’s face upon them. Lead them in the plain path, for Jesus’ sake. Give them to know, deep in the heart, that Thou hast not forgotten to be gracious, that Thy mercy endures for ever, and that in Christ Jesus all Thy promises are Yea and Amen. Unto Thee we commit the way; be Thou their guide even unto death, and afterward receive them to glory. Amen and Amen.