So, this morning, probably by the time that many of you read
this post, by God's grace our little one will be in our arms.
I got to thinking about the last 9 months and what all I’ve been
through. I thought about the endless
worry that another miscarriage might happen again. Every bathroom trip was nerve racking. I thought about sore legs and tired
feet. I thought about uncomfortable “sleeping.” I put that in quotes because at some point
sleep just failed to happen a lot. I
thought about the pressure and discomfort of a full term baby rolling inside my
already cramped belly.
But, the thing is, I’ve also thought about the joy. I’ve thought about the amazing feeling of a
child growing inside of me. I thought
about the joy of sharing with our family that we would be adding a little one
this year. I thought about the fun I’ve
had discussing pregnancy with other moms.
I’ve thought about the joy that is to come when this little one comes
into this world.
Then God brought to my mind the joy and sacrifice it took
for me to be a child of his. The
discomfort that Jesus felt in those years, months, weeks, days, and hours
leading up to the cross. The struggle
for people to hear the truth. The weight
of the world, literally, on his shoulders.
Hebrews 12:2 says, “fixing our eyes on
Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he
endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God.”
As I think about the child that God has given us, I can’t
help but see just a glimpse of the joy that Jesus was looking toward. I have only suffered just the smallest
portion of what he suffered, but the joy of just one child being added to our
family is worth whatever I had to go through.
I don’t care what kind of birth experience you have, it’s
not easy. If you deliver naturally,
awesome! That’s hard work that I have no
experience with. But, your body is put
through the ringer. You are exhausted,
and there is no time for rest now that the little lady or gentleman has made
their entrance. There are often stitches
that need to be sewn, and I’ve been told it’s like you’re sitting on hot
coals. If you have to have a C-section, wonderful! That isn’t easy either, and that I do know
about. You are laid bare on a table, numb
from the navel down, detached from most of the experience. In a lot of cases you are wheeled off to
recovery as your child is walked to the nursery. It could be upwards of an hour before you see
that little one again. That’s what broke
my heart. I was like Kill Bill in
that recovery room. “Move your big toe.”
(You can email me if you feel some kind of way about me watching that
movie. If you’ve never seen it, don’t.)
The point is that this world is a broken place. That means that bringing life into it is hard
and painful. So, for Jesus to bring the
ultimate life into this world that would save us all, was the ultimate
pain. But he did it anyway. Why?
Because we are his joy! The thought
of having us, his children with him forever was joy enough to endure everything
that was set before him. And, don’t you
think for a minute that he didn’t know what was coming. He was God incarnate. He knew what he was going to have to suffer
for us to be included in the family of God.
And he did it anyway. You were
worth it. I was worth it.
As you read this, by the grace of God, I’m holding a new
little life, and I am reminded that Jesus has given us new life. We are blood bought children of the most high
King. Don’t forget that. Don’t forget that the blood he used to pay
the ransom for our sins was poured out willingly because we are his joy. You are his joy!
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