Lisa Barry: I hear a lot of talk these days from women who have made personal fulfillment their goal. Homemaking, they think, is only for the unskilled, uncreative women of society. Is that what you think?

Yesterday we began this series on the holy work of mothering. Elisabeth Elliot looked at the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Can you imagine how the text would change if Mary had been consumed with popular ideas? When the angel appeared, she might have said, "Okay, maybe I'll do this, but what's in it for me? Will I get to travel? Is there a book deal in the works? And what about miracles?" It's just unthinkable, isn't it? Is Mary still a role model? Let's find out as we begin this Tuesday edition of Gateway To Joy.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, continuing my talks today on the holy work of mothering.

Yesterday we pondered the amazing story in the first chapter of Luke, of that little peasant girl in Nazareth, who received a dazzling visitor, an angel from God who told her that she was to become the mother of the Son of God. A staggering piece of news.

Isn't it amazing that so little is recorded about Mary? But we do know what her response was to the angel's message: "Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord. Be it unto me, according to thy word." Or another translation says, "Here I am, Lord. Let it happen as you say." Mary became the bearer of the Word. The Word was made flesh in the body of Mary.

What calling could be higher than to receive a child, or another person from God, in the name of God and nurture that one for Him? You and I are not given the literal privilege that Mary had to be the bearer of the Son of God in that physical sense. But let's not forget that we are given the privilege of bearing Christ within ourselves. Christ lives in me. That's what Paul said. And to everyone who has committed himself or herself to God, willingly receiving Christ, that person is to bear Christ to the world. In other words, to be an instrument of God, to represent what God is like in our behavior, in our love, in our caring.

Jesus said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me." This is what Mary did. She took the yoke, which was going to mean sacrifice and pain, as does giving birth to any child, whether spiritual or physical. This is the yoke that the Lord is asking us to take.

Today I want to talk about emptiness and fulfillment. Both of these things are necessary to the holy work of mothering. Philippians 2 is an amazing description of the way in which Jesus Christ emptied Himself when He came into the world.

Let me read to you from Philippians 2. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, emptied Himself, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross."

Emptiness. Out of that emptiness came the highest, most glorious, fulfillment. Out of our emptiness, God can give us fulfillment beyond anything we ever imagined. There have been a number of ways, as I look back over my life, in which God has forcibly emptied me-taking away people I loved, allowing work that I had done to be destroyed. A stripping process, necessary that we should be emptied in order that we may be filled with Christ Himself.

Jesus Christ emptied Himself. He became obedient to death. I would like to ask, "Who is listening today who feels empty, helpless, useless, a failure as a mother?" Oh, I think there'd probably be quite a few of you out there who are saying, "Oh, Elisabeth, I'm just a total failure as a mother. I feel so useless. I feel so incapable of doing this holy job that you talk about."

How about you single women? You married women, whose wombs have been empty always? There's a message here for every single one of us. Do you live in a void, meaningless, unhappy condition? Let me ask, "Do you indulge in exhausting pleasures?" Do you allow space, silence, time for prayer in your life? Are you afraid to be alone with God or alone with your heart? Is your house full of clutter? Is your life cluttered?

I know some earnest, serious women, who have a conscious purpose in life, and they actually destroy it by being too set on that particular purpose that they have drawn up. Their own goals. Their own plans. Their own enthusiasms. They are forgetting to leave room to receive the Lord, to listen to the still small voice.

When I talked to my daughter Valerie not long ago, she told me that she and Theo, who is five years old, were cleaning drawers. How many useless things they discovered! How many things that even the little five-year-old boy was willing to get rid of! Either throw away, because they weren't worth anything, or give them to some child who didn't have nearly as many things as he had.

Mary had a simple life. God wants us to learn, the older we grow, to be simpler. By His grace, I do think He is working that in me. It's refreshing to simplify your life. Mothering means sacrifice. It means letting go of a lot of things that you used to do. It means offering up your life to Jesus Christ daily.

Perhaps you've made a one-time commitment to Jesus Christ for life. You asked Him to come into your heart, to make a Christian out of you, and you want to live that way. But I think it's a good thing to ratify that one-time commitment daily, by simply putting ourselves at God's disposal, as Mary did.

I often just pause and lift up my hands to the Lord and say, "Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it happen as You say. Be it unto me, according to Your Word." Letting go. Offering up. Surrendering. Emptying.

In Jesus' life and in Mary's life, there was one holy purpose-that was the will of God. It's very hard to imagine that Mary's life was hampered by trifling, unnecessary things. But perhaps there was something. You and I know how hard it is to avoid the slavery of things in the U.S.A. Got to have it all. Are you learning to empty yourself as Christ did? That emptiness requires a deliberate discarding not only of things, but of-as Amy Carmichael wrote-"all that dims Thy Calvary."

She prayed this prayer: "From subtle love of softening things, from easy choices, weakenings-not thus are spirits fortified, not this way went the Crucified. From all that dims Thy Calvary, O Lamb of God, deliver me."

The holy work of mothering involves taking care of a sick child once in a while, doesn't it? When your child is sick, your plans are upset. How do you respond? Are you willing to empty out those precious plans? Do you receive this happening of your child's illness as from God? Do you visualize yourself with all sorts of extras and escapes and interests, other than love, in your life? A mother is a chalice, a cup emptied of self and filled with Christ.

We came home from a trip one day and discovered that a house finch had built a little nest on a windowsill. It was fascinating to watch how that house finch sacrificed everything for those babies that were about to come. That was her life. For three weeks, she had nothing else to do but sit on that nest. And for three more weeks, she had nothing else to do but feed and care for those babies. Was her time wasted?

Do you chop up your life into the spiritual and the secular? One half of it is spiritual; one half of it is secular. Or maybe 90% of it is secular and 10% spiritual. Now I know that earning a living, cleaning, cooking, caring for children, mending, often seems like wasted time. But let's remember, it is through the ordinary, human life, every hour, that union with God comes about. Not in extraordinary things, but in the ordinary, hum-drum, faithful carrying out of the duties that God has given you to do.

Mothering is holy work. Human nature was the material that God used to fulfill His will in Mary. Are you willing to be a mother, a chalice, to be empty, that He might fill you?

Lisa Barry: In the words of Mary, we might answer that by saying, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." After that, we need to be sure we're supporting our declaration with material that will encourage us to be steadfast.

First of all, it's the Bible, because there's example after example of servanthood and sold-out obedience to Christ in its pages. Beyond that, let me suggest our Mother's Day packet, which includes four weeks of tape series. You'll also receive Glenda Revell's new book entitled WITH LOVE FROM A MOTHER'S HEART, and a number of other things. The cost for the entire package is $30, and that includes shipping and handling.

Our address is Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Or call toll-free: 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Our Internet ministry address is gatewaytojoy.org. Gateway To Joy has been a production of Back to the Bible.

Tomorrow Elisabeth talks about spiritual mothering, so join us then for another Gateway To Joy.