(An excerpt from upcoming release "Woven in the Womb")
The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:24-25 (NIV)
When we think about how much more there is to go, the journey can feel overwhelming especially if you are in pain. Have you been visited by varicose veins and hemorrhoids yet? At this stage, the baby is compressing your bowels, bladder, and giving you lower back pain. And the swelling? It is no joke. Cankles are the new normal.
There is a temporary plumbing problem in your cardiovascular system - the baby sits upon the pipes that carry blood back to your heart and so the blood pools at your feet. The pregnant body is in a low protein state which squeezes more blood towards the baby. It’s actually an intentional design of the Creator to give your baby more nutrients. But the mother’s low protein state also squeezes fluid into any path of least resistance- including your feet, face, and hands. So it’s no wonder you feel like a water balloon!
The reality is, every week something else hurts. One week it is back pain, the following week it is heartburn, and then the next week, constipation moves in. As the baby grows, new growing pains arise. We don’t get much time to be comfortable with our symptoms before a new set of aches and pains arrive. Pregnancy is a time that we learn to get used to being in pain and anticipating pain. Understandably so, women most fear the pain of labor and delivery.
But if you really think about it, the process of labor and delivery is an allegory of the story of our lives. Like the never-ending symptoms of pregnancy, there is always something brewing in our broken worlds.
Mountain after mountain, living in this world is a marathon of mountain-climbing. Have you ever felt that you can barely breathe because there is no respite between trials? This world is a challenge even for those who know Jesus. The trials can feel never-ending, especially when they become chronic. Some trials have no quick fix, so we learn to adjust our baseline. Our tolerance and resilience to trial becomes stronger in order to survive.
When you go to Labor and Delivery, the nurses will hook your belly up to two different monitors. One will measure your baby’s heartbeat. But the second monitor will be monitoring how often you have contractions. Interestingly, the recording of the contractions is literally a “mountain after mountain” of squiggly lines.
Each mountain reflects God’s faithfulness. Each mountain symbolizes our resilience. Each mountain shows our resolve to keep showing up. Because every decade of mothering has its new challenges and heartaches. There are new bridges to create and new fears to conquer.
But despite all of the mountains, we can continue on the journey because we know the destination. For the Christian, our heavenly birthday is a celebratory reunion with our Father in heaven. For the laboring mother, it is the earthly birthday of her new precious child.
So how do we get through life marked by trials? One day at a time. And how do we get through labor? One contraction at a time. Because each mountain has a peak and then a release, followed by a rest in between. There will always be another peak. There will always be another rest.
God’s provision is enough for each mountain of the journey.
Lamentations says that the Lord is our portion. A portion is not a buffet. A portion is just enough. It isn’t overindulgent. He will give you enough strength for scaling this next mountain top. It may be as simple as an anti-hemorrhoid prescription, or it may be an epidural during labor. It may be the support of a friend who delivers you a meal. There are so many ways God gives us a balm to get to the top. He is with us, and He will sustain us.
When He is the sustainer of each incline, we will have the patience to wait out this long process with perseverance. We will wait quietly amidst the pregnant hustle. When you let God be enough for the moment, you will have hope to endure.
The moment the baby cries, there is a relief in the room. First from the new daddy (if he has not fainted yet), obvious relief from a tired mama, and if you look at your obstetrician, there is also a relief in his or her eyes too. Labor is a challenging journey, and watching pain evaporate into joy is a relief for all. I imagine that this look is how God the Father will look at us someday when we join Him in heaven, relieved that we are rescued from the pain of all of contractions of this broken world once and for all. And as we cradle in His arms, we will already know His voice, the one who has comforted us while we were in the womb. What a beautiful moment of salvation it will be for all!
Reflection Questions:
1) How do you see God sustaining you this week on your pregnancy journey?
2) As you anticipate Labor and Delivery, what are you most afraid of? What part of the process do you need to trust the Creator God to provide what you need?
3) How does the hope of heaven change how you approach your trials in this life?
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