Our twelfth grandchild was born last week. Our youngest daughter, Joannah Rose, gave birth to our now youngest granddaughter, Rebecca Rose. The hospital strictly limited visitors so we received a play-by-play status on the delivery from the new dad by text message. After lots of pain and struggle, the baby girl finally made her appearance before midnight. She is beautiful and healthy, as is her mother, and we are grateful to God.
The Bible often uses the analogy of a woman’s labor to describe the struggles of life. Jesus described the suffering of His disciples as a woman in labor. “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:20-21, NIV). The comfort of the Savior is that the struggles of this life are temporary but the joy we will share with Him is eternal. We find peace in the midst of anguish because of this promise.
Paul described the Christian journey as a woman giving birth. He said to the Galatians, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,” (Galatians 4:19, NIV). The believers had strayed from the Lord in Paul’s absence. He wanted them to be like Christ. He describes his ministry as a matter of labor until their lives bore the image of Jesus. In like manner, God wants our lives to bear the image of Jesus and the journey comes with struggles and pain.
The Bible describes our planet as being in a time of labor. Jesus said concerning the end days, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains” (Mark 13:8, NIV). Christ will return to the earth one day and restore His creation to it’s perfection, but until that moment is finally birthed, we will be in a state of labor. The Scriptures state, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22, NIV). The comfort is found in verse 18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:19, NIV).
Our world is struggling right now with natural disasters, fires, and floods. Many people live in desperation. The scenes from Afghanistan are horrific. Every Christian should be burdened with grief and appealing to God for mercy at the sight of the pain. One comfort is to know that none of this surprises God. The world is broken because of sin and we are feeling the pains of labor. We endure the labor as we look for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.