2 reflections from surah Al-ahqaaf:

1- Many times, as parents and as mothers especially, we lose focus on why we are raising children, and more specifically, why we are struggling so hard with them while not directly seeing the fruit of our labor. Listen to this verse:

وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْرًا حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

"And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship and she brings him forth with hardship, and the bearing of him, and the weaning of him is thirty (30) months, till when he attains full strength and reaches forty years, he says: "My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as please You, and make my off-spring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims (submitting to Your Will)."

After going through so much hardship, the woman in this verse is described to have raised a child who does something simple yet grand. This child as growing up realizes that all favors are from God, and the He alone is the source of all his/her blessings, including the blessing of parents, which in turn causes that person to do good and stay on the path of submitting all affairs to God.

Isn't that what we want? If going through this struggle to raise our children today will one day make them turn to God in this same fashion, recognizing all favors are from Him and striving to be righteous people, then all the pain is worth it. Know you have done something right then. 

2- On another topic, verse 27 says:

وَلَقَدْ أَهْلَكْنَا مَا حَوْلَكُم مِّنَ الْقُرَىٰ وَصَرَّفْنَا الْآيَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ

"And indeed We have destroyed towns (populations) around you, and We have repeatedly shown the proofs/signs in various ways that they might return (to the truth and believe in the Oneness of God)."

Sometimes we question why bad things happen in many places around us. Here, God is linking the destruction of a town to a sign that turns people back to Him. At times, we as people are so lost that we need something to literally shake us up to snap out of the lost state we are in. So instead of saying where is God when we see destructions around us, know that this is God. Signs come in different ways for people to wake up and realize that this world is not what we want. It's the next world we are all striving for.