Who doesn’t want easier labor and delivery? I mean, I have heard from others that there is a lot of pain involved. God blessed me with what my husband affectionately calls “Pocahontas abilities”. Meaning, I can squat and give birth and keep moving. I loved every minute of being pregnant and didn’t suffer a lot of pain with labor and delivery. Well, my first pregnancy and delivery nearly killed me but I was never in pain and I still loved it. My last pregnancy was a little different, this little booger at 9.2 pounds was two weeks late, my 5th pregnancy and I was 30, but the doctor wouldn’t induce. When he finally does, it was the first time I felt pain… still not as much as some other of you but it was painful. The other night I had a dream about a friend that was my age, giving birth to a beautiful baby boy! I was like “Whoa God, why would I dream that?” His reply, “she has been pregnant for a long time and now she is in labor and about to give birth”. At that point, I decided to text her. I didn’t even give her the complete details of the dream but I wanted to blog about it because I believe God has something to say about this for all of us.
After she gave birth, I kept commenting “this baby is so tiny”… my kids were 7.6 to 9.2 (three of them over 8 pounds)… After I said it for the hundredth time she responded with “well, Michelle, great things start small”. That, my friends, is what we are going to talk about. Zechariah 4:10 says, Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin. I suppose I was so wrapped in how tiny this baby was because I seemed to have huge babies and never had one that was “small” in comparison. Reality is, we all have to start somewhere. God has placed something in you to be birthed to bring Him glory. But what if we don’t grow? It seems that I have been working to grow in a direction the Lord has wanted me to go, but not sure I am doing the things I need to. Maybe I am just fooling myself that I am making progress. Well, Michelle, whatever do you mean? I mean, that I expected my kids to do something when I asked them to, especially if it was to help them mature or learn. God gave me something years ago that I only began to kind of start 3 years ago and decided almost a year ago to go full throttle. You know what I’ve done… I’ve tapered off. The world around me has been full of activity and decisions to be made and quite frankly I have been exhausted. As with anything, what normally happens, in the beginning, is we get super excited and put in a lot of work. We put in so much work we are exhausted. Sometimes we miss the boat… Oh okay. I am assuming it’s just me that’s missed the direction God was going in and started my way (Did you sing the song by ole Blue Eyes?), only to circle back to where He wanted me in the first place. Sometimes it is part of the growing process, and it doesn’t change what we are planning just how to get there? Make sense? The destination is the same but if we go left when He says go right it will take us longer to get there. Sometimes we have issues with submitting to the process of growth and learning. This process requires work and sacrifice. Who has time for that?! I want this done yesterday! Am I right?
If you are going to tell me you have made it through life without any setbacks anywhere… then I may just have to call you a fibber… I don’t know anyone that has made it through school, work, ministry, parenthood, marriage, etc. without some sort of setback… I have them… regularly. Decisions are made and off we go to the races only for me to run out of juice and decide to sit down right in the middle of my lane. Can’t you just picture the jockey (Holy Spirit), sitting in the saddle on my back urging me to go and I just say “nope not today”… Yeah, it’s happened. Let’s share a secret, shall we? I mean we are friends and I know you can keep this secret… Sometimes these small beginnings and the setbacks are to keep us humble. God requires that we put work into whatever He has called us to. Sometimes I’m just all about the “not today” scenario. Oh, I have tons of excuses. It’s the kids. It’s the grands. It’s the office. It’s #hottoddy. But is it ever me? Since this “humble/small beginning” began, I have learned to pinpoint exactly where I am at fault. It doesn’t mean I am necessarily handling it right and making the changes but I can tell you what they are. How is God going to use the humble beginnings if I don’t listen? Yes, I can remember exactly when it started. It started with the squeeze.
What are some things that keep us from giving birth to this thing God has put into our spirit? I believe the story of Moses and the Israelites can shed some light on that…
I mean the Israelites stayed in the desert 40 years so I’m thinking they were not believing the report of the Lord. They were despising their humble beginnings as it were. They complained about everything. I don’t recall any time we hear that they thanked God for making provisions, getting them where they needed to be. They get so close and then nope… It reminds me of that commercial with the fisherman dangling a dollar bill “You almost had it”… The enemy loves giving bad reports to turn us around. Do you believe the report of the Lord or the media? The doctor? Friends/Family? Stop listening to the enemy… sometimes he gets in our heads and we are just “yep you’re right” and let him tell us things we shouldn’t listen to. Sometimes things get hard and we want to go back to what we knew even tho it wasn’t what God had for us. Who likes change? Um, nope. I do not like change but how do we avoid it? Life is full of changes and God requires change. Why must I always want to go back to what was? Or better yet, wait until everything is perfect and everyone is on board before I move forward? Can you imagine God when we come to Him and say things like “God, this manna is just not good enough, take me back to Pharoah”… what we are saying isn’t much different than what they were complaining about. We can make excuses all day long… at least I can. Do I see some hands raised? You know the siblings fought just like most siblings. Aaron and Miriam complained about Moses. God heard and it called them out! He lined all three of them up outside the temple and let them know their behavior was not what He wanted. He even put Miriam in time out! I’m thinking if someone as “great” as Moses got in trouble… how disappointed is God in me?! Of course, I know He isn’t… it’s a rhetorical question. But really?!
Sometimes God is not so concerned with our situation but how we respond to it. He just wants us to trust Him and move forward. He has the delivery bag packed and everything ready for our birthing process.
This spiritual birth is much harder on me than any of the physical pregnancies and birth. Sometimes it’s because I have free will and can start and stop the process which only makes it drag out so much longer. Dream big for that tiny baby lying in front of you… God has birthed something amazing from His spirit in you. What scriptures do you claim over your children? This isn’t any different. One of my faves to speak over them is “My children are mighty in the land. They will be upright and be blessed”. I want God to use them for His glory. This is the same thing I am speaking over this little bundle of joy I’m birthing now.
I declare that God is birthing something BIG in your life! Although the journey at times is tough, the blessing is worth the birthing pain and process.
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