Birth Pains

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.    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 13:7, 8 NIV)

Most churches throughout the world that follow the Common Lectionary readings had to deal with this Gospel of Mark yesterday.  With   !!!!DECEMBER 21!!!!  just around the corner, that's just what we needed, right? ... end times scripture.  Okay, though, we know Jesus said no one will know the hour, and we can take comfort in that, plus the fact that maybe the Mayans just figured they had gone far enough with their calendars and decided to stop numbering!

But what if....  I don't know, maybe the people of every age have said the same things, but there are an awful lot of end time "signs" out there.  What if the wars and rumors of war and earthquakes and famines that this world is experiencing today are really part of those beginninng birth pains that Jesus was talking about?  

The very idea of "birth pains" is scary.  I remember my first pregnancy.  I spent a lot of time wondering (with a good bit of anxiety) what the birth pains would feel like.  And more recently, so did Emma's mom, Chelsea.  And those of us with childbirth experience can't take any of that worry away from moms-to-be... because we know... birth pains are painful!  

But even though just about every mother since Eve has experienced some kind of birth pains, we still have babies!  You'd think once the word got out about how painful childbirth was, we'd quit having them, wouldn't you?  But we know... we know from watching other mothers and their tenderness with their babies and their joy in their children that the pain is worth it.  What marvolous wonders come from that pain!  

It is no mistake that Jesus refered to end time events as birth pains.  He knows what happens as the result of birth pains... something new and miraculous and beautiful.  Something that brings us joy and peace and happiness... something that makes the pain so worthwhile we would be willing to do it again!  

No matter what happens... or doesn't happen... on December 21, put your trust in God.  God is good... all the time... and has nothing but the very best in store for us.  Depend on it!

Here we go again, Father, worrying about the future and what it holds or doesn't hold for us.  Help us to trust in your love and grace.  Amen.

Joys:  a short workweek; Cecelia's excitement to see my boxes of Christmas stuff up from the basement; time with my happy and curious Emma.