Labor Pains

I've never been one that likes pain.

In fact, I don't know many people that would say that they truly enjoy pain,

That they truly enjoy hurt.

Pain and hurt are the things we have been taught to fear.

Fall on the playground and scrape your knee?

Mommy is the first one there to give it a kiss and make it feel better.

Your prom date breaks up with you a week before prom?

Take a night to cry over a pint of Ben and Jerry's and then put on a brave face, and show up to that dance looking as hot as possible.

From the very beginning, we've learned that pain and hurt should be feared,

Run from,

Avoided at any cost.

No one likes to feel pain,

But what if, instead of running, we took a moment and breathed in the pain and the hurt.

What if, instead of hiding, we took a moment to be grateful for the pain and the hurt?

And I know that sounds crazy,

How could anyone be grateful for pain?

How could anyone be grateful for hurt?

Pain is a result of something you did wrong.

Hurt is a result of something gone terribly amiss.

But what if, we've had the wrong viewpoint on pain this whole time?

What if pain isn't a result of something you've done wrong,

What if it's a precursor to something that God wants to make right?

What if hurt isn't a result of something gone terribly amiss,

What if it's a preview of God's favor, getting you ready for something that is going to be greater anything then you could have ever planned?

What if this pain, and this hurt, is actually a promise,

A promise for something greater,

A promise for something glorious,

A promise for something new.

And today, Mother's Day of all days,  I'm reminded of this.

No mother will tell you they enjoyed the hours of labor they endured.

But instead will say every second was worth it.

No mother will tell you they wish for the pain,

But instead will tell you they'd do it all over again.

Because without that labor,

And the tears,

And the cries,

They never would have felt that moment of pure joy,

That moment of unreal peace,

Holding that new life in their arms,

Something that wasn't there before,

A direct result of their pain,

Sometimes, through our pain, God will do a great work,

And through our labor,

And our tears,

And our cries,

God is at work,

Bringing something new into our lives.

Today I choose to look at pain,

And hurt,

Not as a punishment,

But as evidence of God's grace,

As evidence of God's faithfulness,

As evidence of God's work in my life.

Pain is never easy.

But it might sting a little less if instead of focusing on the hurt,

You choose to anxiously await to see what the Lord desires to do through it.