Mother's Day: The God Who Sees Your Tears

Introduction

For Mother's Day, Hillsong Paris gave the platform to several women who took turns encouraging the mothers in the body of Christ. The first, a high school teacher, addressed mothers who no longer dare to hope for their teenagers. The second shared her testimony of a high-risk pregnancy where God "set her in a broad place." The third revisited the life of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel. Together, these three voices point to the same certainty: God sees your tears, he has not forgotten your prayers, and he gives a double portion to those he loves.

Message Outline

1.Do not be discouraged -- God sees you in the silence

The first speaker opens with a real story: a mother in tears called her because her teenage son had cut off all communication. "I have tried everything," she said. This message is addressed to every mother—and everyone—who does good without yet seeing the fruit.
The starting text is Galatians 6:9: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." What you see is different from what you believe, but faith has never walked by sight.
What you are going through is for a season. Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us that there is a time for everything: this season has a beginning and an end. After winter comes spring, then summer. You can declare that summer is on its way.
You will reap what you have sown. Like a seed you water without seeing anything emerge from the ground, the harvest is invisible before it becomes visible. A day will come when you will say: "I was right to persevere, I was right to intercede for my son, for my daughter."
God sees you. In Genesis 16:13, Hagar gives the Lord the name El Roi—"You are the God who sees me." He sees your tears, he hears what you do not say, he counts your efforts that no one around you notices. Just as he feeds the birds of the air, he will take care of you and your children.

2.He set me in a broad place -- a mother's testimony

The second speaker shares her story. Pregnant with her youngest daughter, she went through a high-risk pregnancy compounded by a thyroid condition. The doctors believed the pregnancy endangered her life and considered termination. She went through blood tests one after another, sometimes several a day, known by everyone in the lab.
Her text: Psalm 118:5—"In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and the Lord answered by setting me free in a broad place." This verse does not deny the reality of anguish; it affirms that at the very heart of anguish, when you call on the Lord, he goes beyond what you could expect.
She compares herself to Jochebed, the mother of Moses (Exodus 2:1-9). A mother who, in a season when her child's life was threatened, carried him, protected him, preserved him—then made the overwhelming gesture of letting go and entrusting him to God by placing him on the river. This is not a mother who abandons; it is a mother who says: "I have done my part. Lord, I let you take over."
"Faith is not about controlling the situation or having all the answers. Faith is saying to God: I see that this is beyond my strength, and I choose to hold on to you." Her daughter was born at nearly 9 pounds, in full health—even though the doctors said she was too thin. Three years to the day later, her thyroid tests came back normal.
He is the God of complicated cases, the God who hears the prayer carried with tears, the God who turns anguish into testimony. Maybe your struggle is not a pregnancy: it is your health, your finances, your children, a weariness you cannot even name. The One who "set her in a broad place" will set you free too.
Before the broad place, there is often a narrow passage. Like a butterfly that struggles through so its wings can finally unfold, you pass through a constriction to be able to fly. That passage is not an injustice, it is a preparation.

3.Those who sow in tears -- Hannah, the mother of Samuel

The third speaker draws from Psalm 126: "Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them." Your prayers are seeds. Your tears poured out before God are sowings.
She retells the story of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1). Hannah was barren, humiliated every year by her rival Peninnah. Her husband Elkanah loved her and gave her a double portion, but it was not enough to fill her pain.
One day, at Shiloh, Hannah rises in bitterness of soul and prays to the Lord, weeping abundantly. She moves only her lips. The priest Eli thinks she is drunk. She answers: "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord."
Eli blesses her: "May the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him." Hannah begins to eat again and her face was never the same. As in the book of Job, she showed God how hard it was—but she left with the certainty that the Almighty would answer.
Later, the Lord remembers her. Hannah conceives and gives birth to Samuel—then five more children (1 Samuel 2:21). She sowed in tears, she reaped in joy.

4.The garments of salvation -- Hannah's prophecy fulfilled in Christ

After Samuel's birth, Hannah utters a song (1 Samuel 2). Perhaps without knowing it, she prophesies: "He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed." At that time, there was no king in Israel. Hannah was already announcing the King of kings, Jesus Christ.
Jesus, in Gethsemane, also sowed his tears for each one of us. It is he who says: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). He gave everything on the cross so that we could receive our miracle.
Isaiah 61 announces this same Jesus: "He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives... to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."
Isaiah 61 adds: "Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion... you will be called priests of the Lord." We are clothed with the garments of salvation, with the robe of deliverance. What Hannah received—a double portion because he loved her—God gives to his children today, in Christ.
He is the God who counts your steps. He is El Roi, the God who sees. He is El Emunah, the faithful God. He is Jehovah Jireh, the one who provides. He is Adonai, Lord and Master. He is Yahweh, the one who was, who is, and who is to come. And it is to this God that you can entrust your situation today.

Key Takeaways

What you sow in tears, you will reap in joy—the harvest is invisible before it becomes visible.
God is El Roi, the God who sees: he sees your efforts, your silent prayers, and your tears that no one around you notices.
Faith is not about controlling the situation; it is choosing to hold on to God when it is beyond your strength.
Before the broad place, there is often a narrow passage—like the butterfly, it is that constriction that prepares you to spread your wings.
Hannah sowed in tears; God remembered her and gave her a double portion. Today in Christ, you are clothed with the garments of salvation: a crown of beauty instead of ashes.

Personal Application

Write down the name of a child, a loved one, or a situation you have been praying for a long time without yet seeing the fruit. Decide before God not to give up this week, rereading Galatians 6:9 each morning.
Like Jochebed placing Moses on the river, is there a worry you have been carrying alone that it is time to "lay down"? Write it out, hand it over to God out loud, then take a concrete step to not pick it back up.
Take a quiet moment this week to pour out your heart before God as Hannah did at Shiloh—without perfect words, just in complete honesty. Note what changes in you between the beginning and the end.
Read Isaiah 61 slowly and declare over yourself, by faith: "Instead of ashes, a crown of beauty; instead of mourning, the oil of joy; instead of a spirit of despair, a garment of praise." What area of your life needs this exchange most today?
Spot a tired mother or someone in a long season of waiting around you. This week, take ten minutes to send them a specific message of encouragement, remembering that God sees them and that you can remind them of that.

Cited Verses

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "El Roi," the name Hagar gives to God, mean?

El Roi is the Hebrew name the servant Hagar gives to the Lord in Genesis 16:13: "You are the God who sees me." She is alone, pregnant, fleeing in the desert—invisible in human eyes. And God finds her. For a mother who feels like no one notices her efforts or her tears, this name is good news: the God who saw Hagar sees you today, he counts your steps, and he hears even what you do not say.

How do you pray when you have no words left, like Hannah at Shiloh?

Hannah "was moving only her lips" and her heart was too heavy to form sentences (1 Samuel 1:13). Her prayer was not pretty; it was real. The Bible calls this "pouring out your soul before the Lord." When you are exhausted, you can come to God just as you are: weep, sigh, write one sentence, place your hand on your Bible without saying a word. The Holy Spirit himself intercedes for you with wordless groans (Romans 8:26). What matters is that you come.

Why does God let seasons of waiting last so long?

The message does not claim to have all the answers, but it offers an image: the butterfly must pass through a narrow constriction for its wings to unfold. The difficult season is not God forgetting you; it is often a preparation. Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us that "there is a time for everything": this season has a beginning and an end. In the meantime, you can keep sowing, keep interceding, keep establishing an atmosphere of faith in your home—confident that the Lord remembers you, as he remembered Hannah.

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