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Friday, December 21, 2012

The Promise of Delivery

Are you going through a difficult time? Is it a time that overwhelms you? Does the pain of each moment bring fear to your heart? Do you wonder if God is even aware? You are not alone. At some time in our lives we will all face uncertainty and desolation. We will wonder where God is. We will cry out in our despair and long for a promise of peace in the midst of the storm. Maybe you have heard that you need to “consider it pure joy” when you go through pain. Perhaps you have heard that the pain will make you bitter or better. It will make your faith stronger. There are biblical truths, but at the point of your greatest pain, you need to hear something more. You need the promise that one day it will end. That one day there will be peace.

Tucked away in the book of Isaiah is a verse that I discovered years ago. It uses the analogy of birth for the promised new life for Israel. It also speaks to whatever pain we face. After months of pregnancy a woman discovers the intense pain of delivery, and at the moment when her pain is the greatest, there is release. What is the result? A new birth and a new life. Joy is the result. The months of discomfort, and the intense pain of delivery have been worth it. All along the way, she has anticipated the joy to come. She has believed in her promise, and the months of preparation have been worth the incredible result.

“'Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?' says the Lord. 'Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?' says your God” (Isaiah 66:9). No, He doesn't close up the womb. No, He doesn't stop the release that comes forth from all the pain. The intense joy that comes from your delivery is your promise. You are even protected from the pain that would be too much for you to handle. “Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son” (Isaiah 66:7). What we might consider the harshest pain is not really what the most horrible pain might be. God has protected us. He has made our labor easier than it might have been, and has brought us to the point of delivery from it all.

Whatever trial you are going through holds the promise of peace. “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36). Hang on and find His will for you. Believe the promise is very real. During your time of “pregnancy” you will discover the biblical truths that make your faith stronger. Please believe that “weeping my stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5b). The dawn of morning is your promise, and it will come.

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