All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s spirit is right along side helping us along. (Romans 8:22-26 TM)
Whether you have been pregnant or not, we can relate to being pregnant. Some love being pregnant. I myself hated it. I threw up for three months. I wanted to strangle the person who made this time of pregnancy out to be just a little sickness in the morning. However, the end was both the most exciting and most frustrating time of my pregnancy. The last month you know you are near the end, and all that you have gone through the last eight months is going to pay off. Yet, you are getting bigger and bigger. Your feet swell, and you can barely breath. (My short torso means the baby sits right on my lungs.)
My first pregnancy I tried to shorten the process by taking caster oil. Guess what, if it has not reached full maturity, (James1:2-4 The Message) and it is not God’s timing, nothing can make it happen. I just ended up sick as a dog. (Trust me it is not worth trying to hurry it up. You just end up disappointed and in more pain than before)
Then the moment finally arrives. There is a lot of pain. The next hours seem longer than the entire nine months. Not just because of the labor, but the anticipation is increasing exponentially.Once they are here, nothing went through seems to matter. It was all worth it. The love, the happiness, is more than we could have imagined.
You may be holding onto a dream, a promise God has given you, or a goal you want to reach. It seems that everything is getting more difficult than easier. Do you feel like you are just getting bigger with your dream, and more miserable in your circumstances?
David said “You…enlarged me when I was in distress” ( Psalms 4:1 Amp.) Just like a pregnant woman, you may be under the stress and pressure, and the distress of carrying this dream. Sometimes it may even feel like a burden. Yet during the distress you are being enlarged. Like Paul says, you can’t see what is enlarging you but when it is birthed it will be worth all the waiting, and all the pain.
If you are like me, you do not enjoy the process of waiting. ( And some processes are more painful than others.) You may believing for and carrying something totally different than I am. But in the end, the results are the same, a beautiful life! I want to encourage you today, be expectant, be hopeful , there is a beautiful life for you on the horizon!
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