Posted in General • No Comments
Posted on Friday, February 26th, 2010
“I can see the head! She is crowning, she is crowning!”
“Okay, you just have to push a little harder!”
“But I am so tired, it seems like I have been pushing forever..”
“I know, but you are doing great. A couple more pushes and she will be here. Don’t give up now, keep pushing…”
“That’s it, that’s it..Okay, you can stop, her head it out.”
“Okay now, with this last push, her body will be here and you will have a new life before your eyes, are you ready, okay, one last push, go, that’s it, that’s it, a little harder, yes! You can stop now, she is here!”
“If you have experienced giving birth, your situation may have been very similar to this short fictional piece. But this story is not about giving birth to a baby, it is about giving birth to you!”
Pushing is work, hard work for the woman who is bringing a life into the world. If it is the first time that you have labored, it feels like nothing else you will ever feel. Birthing someone takes every ounce of your physical, emotional and spiritual strength. Two without the other will make for an unbearable time. When God has impregnated us with the vision of who we are and what we have been called to do…we often try to give birth to it without all of the parts that make us who we are participating.
Many of us are pregnant right now. We have reached certain places in our lives when the path that we should take is beginning to make sense. It may be a career move, a shifting in our relationships, a more intimate sense of knowing who you are, etc… You are beginning to carry inside of you a new life, one that grows and develops day by day and is with each passing moment, creating a sense of expectancy for your future. At the same time, there are so many decisions that you have to make in order for this life to be birthed. There are so many things that you may have to do differently in order for this new life inside of you to grow without complication. And in the process of growing, the hardest part of giving birth is to focus on developing every aspect of our being.
We may grow spiritually by staying in our word and on our knees in prayer, but we won’t deny ourselves from physical handicaps and submit our emotions to God by giving Him our will. Then there are those of us who may take the first steps to change our life and make new decisions, but we don’t feed ourselves with the word of God or surround ourselves with new company . In the end, we just don’t have enough strength to keep pushing. Wouldn’t it hurt if the baby stayed in the crowning position until you regained your mental and physical strength to push! Some of us would still be walking around with a baby hanging halfway between our legs.
Mentally, the hardest part about giving birth to the new you is believing that the new you is really in there! You have to fight through other people’s judgments of you, your past failures, hurts that you endured for way too long, being misunderstood (not just by others but by yourself), doubt about God’s grace and mercy leading you into a new season, and insecurities about the unknown. There are many things that go to war with your will to change. You know that there is a more powerful and successful you on the inside, you just don’t know how to get it out!
Well, here are the Four Steps to Making It Through Labor:
Step 1 – The easiest birth is when the head comes out first.
The head of the Church is Christ. Letting Jesus lead your every step gives you wisdom, companionship and courage to move forward in the steps that will lead to the discovery of you. He is your eyes when you can’t see your expected end. He is your ears when you have a hard time hearing the will of the Father. He is your nose when it becomes difficult to discern the difference between what can propel you and what can stop you from finishing your course. And Jesus is the word you need to speak when your faith seems to waver under pressure.
Step 2 – When the head is birthed, all of the passage ways are cleared out.
We have to give God the opportunity to renew our mind. He has to deal with our fears and replace it with a sound mind. There is so much clogging our ability to breathe on our own that we become dependent upon others confirming our identities, our futures and our purpose. This is why so many of us find ourselves doing what makes others happy, and yet we feel so unfulfilled. He can clean our perceptions and give us new vision. He can purify our minds so that we aren’t dependant on anyone but Him and can begin to live from the strength that is within us. You will begin to breathe on your own.
Step 3 – The shoulders are delivered and then the body is pulled out.
Your swagger changes once you have a renewed mind. When you are secure in your possibilities and your focus is clear as to how you go about bringing it to pass, your confidence grows and those around you can begin to come along side you and support what you are doing. We experience mental turmoil because our confidence is usually built upon other people’s words and acceptance. It’s time for you to begin living off of the very word God has spoken to you, about you. Birth your shoulders and get your new swagger. Your legs are out and you are almost ready to begin walking out your destiny.
Step 4 – The umbilical cord is cut.
You are no longer dependent upon others for life. Their perceptions and their expectations won’t feed your existence anymore. You now have everything that you need operating on the inside of you to survive on your own. Just look at how beautiful you are! There is a new life before you, and your possibilities are endless.
You are the most important vision you will every carry. Your life is the most powerful existence that you will ever influence. You are the most powerful thing that you will birth. Push and don’t give up, you have a new life to bring forth!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Philippians 3:12 – 16; Matthew 11:28-29
