Yep, you read that title right, and, no, I’m not campaigning to change the pronouns in my NIV Bible. Actually, I’m quoting a chapter title from When the Comforter Came, a book by the Christian & Missionary founder, A. B. Simpson. Again in The Gentle Love of the Holy Spirit, this conservative, evangelical statesman refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Comfort and Consolation and says that especially in the hour of distress and trial, this person of the Godhead is “the very Mother of the Soul”: “As a mother comforts a child, so I will comfort you” (Is. 66:13).
Think about it. God created man-and-woman in his image, so as the Divine Parent He possesses not only the authoritative and protective qualities of a Father but also the nurturing and comforting qualities of a Mother. Mothers throughout the ages have simply mirrored the Spirit’s role when they give their children 24/7 access and open arms and instruction and nurture and sympathy and empathy and attention.
This seems important to emphasize on Mother’s Day, when so many never had a godly, compassionate mother, or their mother has passed away, or they just never realized that the wonderful qualities of compassion and patient guidance actually come from God Himself. Yet anyone who finds him or herself “motherless” in any sense, thirsting for a tender and tending touch, can still wander upstream to the Source and Supply of what is needed – the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, who will not leave us as orphans, who will guide us into all truth, and whose attributes are love, gentleness, and patience. This God, this “Mother of the Soul,” comes to us by His Spirit to live in us, continually guiding, teaching, comforting, counseling, and just “being there” with us.
Read more about the Holy Spirit in John chapters 14-16, Romans 8, and 1 Cor. 2. And consider that maybe, just maybe, there’s a dimension to God that can’t be expressed solely by a father – and that’s why He made mothers.
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