This was shared in the opening of our worship gathering this morning. Many years ago a popular Christian book portrayed God as a woman, and some people were quite outraged. But there is a variety of imagery for God used in Holy Scripture. Someone observed tongue in cheek, “Just because it says God gathers us under his wings, doesn’t mean God is a chicken.”
Although the church has used the pronoun “He” for centuries — because English lacks a suitable substitute — we see the character of God extending far beyond any male-specific definition. Also, some people see the God of the Old Testament as violent compared to the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild;” but in these verses from Isaiah and Psalms, we see the compassion and love of the God of the First Covenant.
Our Gentle Patient God
(An Invocation Prayer for Mother’s Day)
by Laura Steen
Gentle, Patient God
Today we thank God for the gift of mothers and those who mother.
Isaiah wrote that God is a mother to us, comforting and carrying us in her arms.
As one whom a mother comforts, so I will comfort you. Isaiah 66:13.
Gentle, patient God
thank you for your tender care.
Isaiah also wrote that God will never forget us and that he
knows each one of us just as a mother knows her own children.
Can a woman forget her baby at her breast, feel no pity for the child she has borne?
Even if these were to forget, I shall not forget you. Isaiah 49:15
Gentle, patient God
thank you for your tender care.
David wrote that in Gods presence, he was quiet and at peace,
trusting his God like a child safe in its mothers arms.
No I hold myself in quiet and silence, like a child in its mothers arms. Psalm 131:2
Gentle, patient God
thank you for your tender care.
Jesus spoke of himself as a mother, longing to wrap his arms around us like a
mother-hen gathering her chicks under her wings.
How often have I longed to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings
Matthew 23:37
Gentle, patient God
thank you for your tender care.
May we have the power to grasp how wide and deep
and high and long your love is for your children
fully expressed in all that Jesus has done for us,
and may we share this love with others.
In His name we pray, Amen
Christianity 201 
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