A Mother’s Mission - Suffering, Surrender, and Sacrifice

Three of the most impactful words in my adult Christian journey have been…

Suffering, Surrender, and Sacrifice. 

These are not the words most of us would choose for our life’s story, especially as mothers. When we imagine motherhood, we picture the sweet moments: rocking a baby in the quiet of the night, first steps across the living room floor, and laughter around the dinner table. 

But motherhood is also sitting on the edge of your bed after the kids are asleep, asking God if you have the strength to do it again tomorrow, wondering if what you are doing even matters. 

Jesus reminds us “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 

Motherhood is a cross we daily take up, eyes fixed on Him through it all. Sometimes the cross we carry is heavier than we expected. My marriage held a great deal of suffering, betrayal, abuse, trauma, pain, and eventually abandonment. 

As mothers, we often carry our pain quietly while still showing up every day. Sitting with a sick baby through every hour of the night. Navigating parenting a child with special needs. Praying over a teenager who is making heartbreaking choices. Feeling lonely in a marriage that should be a safe place. 

Perhaps you are the mom who feels like she is failing in the ordinary moments—losing patience, feeling exhausted, or wondering if you are even a “good mom.” 

Suffering can appear dramatically, but it can also appear in the quiet perseverance of an ordinary day. Scripture reminds us that Jesus knew suffering intimately.  Isaiah 53:3 describes Jesus as “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” And the night before the crucifixion, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed in Matthew 26:39: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me.” 

Jesus knew the suffering ahead of Him, and He still asked if it could be taken away. 

When we are overwhelmed—when we wonder if we can carry what God has placed before us—we are not weak.

Even Christ felt the weight of suffering. 

But His prayer didn’t end there. Jesus finishes that prayer with words that change everything: “Yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39) This is surrender. And it’s not something that happens once, it happens every day. 

As mothers we surrender control over the little things: the toddler who refuses to nap, the child who struggles in school, the plans that fall apart. And sometimes surrender asks for something much deeper. 

For me, surrender meant placing everything at God’s feet. My marriage, my husband, my family, time with my children, my financial stability, my home, the life I had built, and the future I had imagined. A prayer slowly formed in my heart:

 “Lord…even if you take all of this away, I will still trust You.” 

Which, to this day, is a terrifying prayer, because surrender means letting go of the outcome. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5-6

As mothers, we desperately want to understand. We want to know our children will be okay, that the sacrifices we make will matter, that our prayers are heard. Sometimes when we surrender something to God, yes, even the outcome, He accepts the offering. That was painfully true in my life. 

If anyone understands sacrifice, it’s mothers. 

Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

Romans 12:1 

A living sacrifice is something we offer again and again. From the moment a child begins to grow inside us, motherhood is marked by giving. Our bodies, sleep, time, energy, and comfort. We give pieces of ourselves in thousands of small, unseen ways. Meals cooked, tears wiped, laundry folded, and prayers whispered. 

And nowhere in Scripture does it say we “can’t pour from an empty cup.” Because, guess what? The Holy Spirit is the One who fills it. In 2 Kings 4:1–7, we see the widow’s oil poured again and again and it never runs out. 

The beautiful truth is that God wastes nothing.

Not the sleepless nights. Not the prayers. Not the tears. Not even the heartbreak. Jesus promises in Mark 10:29–30, that no one who sacrifices for Him and the Gospel will fail to receive far more in return. God sees every sacrifice. For me, following God’s call meant something I never imagined. It meant sacrificing and trusting that obedience to God mattered more than holding onto something He never asked me to hold. 

Looking back, I can see that suffering, surrender, and sacrifice are not just parts of my story. They are the path God used to transform my heart. Suffering drew me closer to Christ. Surrender taught me to trust Him. And sacrifice allowed my life to become an offering to Him. 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. 

Romans 8:28

In all things. Not just the joyful or easy things—even suffering, surrender, and sacrifice. 

Motherhood has taught me this again and again: the work that looks small or broken in the world is seen by God, and He is using it to build His Kingdom.