The Story of Deborah and Jael, Part Four: A Mother in Anguish

My Name Does Not Matter

"You do not want to be God's enemy."

Note: The Story of Deborah and Jael, Part One introduced a story of faith, love and salvation, told through the lives of two remarkable women: Deborah and Jael.

Part Two imagined Deborah telling her story, as if she were speaking to us all now, face-to-face.

Part Three focused on the story of Jael, a woman living in the same region as Deborah, but in very different circumstances. Jael's story was not epic, and it was not pretty. But it was ruthless in its honesty and in its pursuit of what matters most to a person.

These women remind us that God desires that we fully rely upon what he says, God desires that we fully love what God loves, and hate and what God hates, and God desires that we fully live with him.

But there was a third woman in the story...a woman who is not named...a woman who did not love what God loves. This woman was a mother in anguish, and her story must be told as well.

I've been asked me to explain why my story is in the Bible, and how it connects with you all.

That's going to be a bit difficult.

For one thing, I do not want to be here. I don't care about you all. I don't care about your God. For that matter, I do not care about anyone's god. All I care about is what I've lost. All I care about is what I feel I deserve, all that's been taken away from me. I was a way more better person than those whimpering, self-absorbed whiners who came waltzing into my country, singing songs about their God and then making cozy with us and our gods when they got fat and sassy.

I lost my son.

I lost the only thing that gave me pride and joy.

I lost the only thing that gave me purpose and protection.

I lost my son.

My attendants tried to comfort me. They assured me that he was on his way, victorious over those "God-of-Jacob" people, those refugees from the god-forsaken East, those on-again, off-again followers of God. They assured me that he was loaded down with red satin fabric and salacious slave women, that the return home was delayed because of all their plunder.

I lost my son.

I lost everything.

So, what can I say to connect my story to yours?

Their God beat my god.

My final words to you? Words from a mother in anguish?

"You do not want to be regarded as an enemy of Deborah's and Jael's God."

Rod Waddington / "Anguish, La Recoleta, Buenos Aires" / https://flic.kr/p/bBR2p7 / CC BY-SA 2.0 / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/