Birth Pangs
All of us are watching something. But when you're in a position where watching is the only thing you can really do, you learn how important it is to do it well. My thoughts on one phrase from Mark 13.
I can’t say I was the most helpful partner of all time when Elisa gave birth to our kids. Though I was by her side for all her deliveries, I possess no trophies for my ability to time contractions. I never made any “influential people lists” for my Lamaze coaching (But that might be because I never took a class).
Through the birthings of eight babies we had five OB doctors and at least twenty nurses and no one bothered to point me out or pull me aside after the delivery to commend me for my gentle, nudging assistance during labor.
Even though my name was not likely engraved on any hospital hall of fame plaques, I probably wasn’t that bad either. I believe my biggest blunder was eating Ritz crackers during an intense labor session while our first, Halle, was about to be born. Elisa aggressively asked me and my “Ritz cracker breath” to “back up!”.
To be clear, the buttery aroma didn’t make her nauseous, she was actually hungry.
Thirty six hours in labor with no food drastically limits the hospitality of pregnant women toward Ritz eating ignorant men.
Though I was in the room, I was far removed from the actual pains and pleasures of birth. My role during the pangs was mostly observer. I stood by and watched the one who manifested the actual experience. And though it was clear I was not an expert, I learned what to watch for. I learned to see the signs of Elisa in progress and how to encourage her toward the finish. I learned to pay attention to the voices that knew more than me. I learned how to watch and not get in the way.
In Mark 13, Jesus preaches a short sermon about being the kind of followers who learn to watch. He encourages his disciples to not only watch out for hell when heaven breaks loose, but to also watch for a kingdom through the lens of a cross.
It’s a call to watch carefully—that the hell you experience on earth would not distract you from the arrival of heaven. Don’t let the darkness blind you from the light that’s breaking in. Don’t let the pain you suffer blur your eyes from the promises God keeps.
This is a learned watching.
Watching well will help us rightly receive His words and remember what is true about Him.
That He was, will be and always is present.
That He will and has come.
That He has arrived and is arriving.
That He is good and more good than you think He is.
These things are always true and never not true.
But in the midst of all our wars, we have to watch carefully to see this well.
In verse 8 Jesus says, “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.”
The pains in this life are not arguments against the truth that God is good. They are the elements of labor through which he will work out and grow our hope. And through these hardships, not despite them, we are called more than conquerors.
This is only possible and most obvious in the One who came to suffer and enter our sufferings.
The imagery of birth pangs is not uncommon in apocalyptic literature. It is helpful in pointing toward something that is to come. Because no woman simply stays pregnant, the imagery points to what will be—the other side of labor. The beginnings of a birth, even the birth pangs of creation, point to the promises that are kept in Christ.
I write this to encourage you to watch.
As you do you will learn what to watch for. You will learn to see the signs of creation in progress and how to encourage one another toward the finish. You will learn to pay attention to the voices that know more than you. You will learn how to watch and not get in the way.
Speaking of getting out of the way and listening to voices that know more than me, I want to share this article from my friend, Sarah. Her words are beautiful and can speak about actual birth pangs much better than I. Let her words teach you. I believe her perspectives will help us learn—especially men like me—how to watch well. Please read!
Labor, Delivery and the Kingdom of God by Sarah Hart