A Baby Story--NOT of the TLC Variety

**Please allow this interruption of our hospitality series for me to share what the Lord showed me in His Word today. I will post the next part of our series ASAP!**

Romans 8:18-23
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

My son, Zachary, took his sweet time to join us in the world last September. I remember thinking that the day would never come. (In all fairness, it was an EXTREMELY HOT summer and I was HUGE!) But then, one Tuesday in mid-September, contractions began in earnest (I'd been experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions for a while at that point) and were coming fairly reguarly, though far apart. My husband and I were so excited and a little nervous about what the evening would bring. We had been invited over to some friends' house for dinner and rather than just sitting at home waiting for a little one to arrive, we decided to go on to dinner. We packed our hospital bags in the car, sure we wouldn't be back to our home until a few days later when we returned with our new little bundle of joy!

We had a great dinner and visit with our friends--they were pretty pumped that I was "in labor" at their house and ready to follow us to the hospital at any moment. We got in the car that night...and headed back home. The contractions had slowed and were suddenly irregular again.

As we went to bed that night, we thought FOR SURE we'd be getting up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital. (Good thing we left our bags in the car!!) Little did we know that it would be a FULL TWO weeks before the doctors finally induced labor and our son was born.

While the contractions I experienced in the two weeks prior to Zachary's birth were real, they were just prepartory birth pains--contractions that were helping my body get ready for the actual birthing process.

That's the personal illustration the Lord brought to my mind as I read Paul's words in Romans 8:18-23 this morning. Paul is comparing the suffering and trials of our life on earth and the turmoil of the world to the prepartory contractions that ready a woman's body for her baby's birthday. Paul is not saying that our suffering and trials in this life are inconsequential any more than someone would dare to suggest that the pre-labor contractions a woman experiences before active labor begins are insignificant. What Paul is saying is that our suffering in this life is part of the pangs of waiting and preparation for the fulfillment of the restoration and redemption that will come when Jesus returns to bring His Bride to Himself and make all things new.

We anxiously awaited and eagerly anticipated the birth of our son. We endured pain and hardship in the process, but the joy that was ours when the doctor announced his arrival and Zachary's first cry filled the room so far outweighed whatever pain there had been that it wasn't even worth comparing them. (In fact, so great was my joy that I can only vaguely remember the discomfort and pain of pregnancy and labor.)

That's what Paul is communicating here. Whatever hardship, disappointment, suffering, or trial you are experiencing right now, isn't even worth comparing to the glory that is to come. Instead of focusing on the financial difficulty, the struggling marriage, the loneliness of singlehood, the anxiety of a strained relationship, the disappointment of a wayward child,the burden of a long-term illness, the loss of a job, etc., we should allow God, through the power of His Word and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit to use it in our lives to increase the hope we have in the promise of Christ's return to make all things new and to compel us to anxiously await and eagerly anticipate the completion of our adoption and redemption in Him. What an incredible birth story THAT will be!