Priscilla in Labor
IllustrationTestimony★★★★ON A Wednesday night a few years ago, I went to the hospital, because I got a phone call that my daughter, Priscilla, was in labor. I walked inside of the room, and she said, “Dad, I’ve never had pain like this in my life. I thought I was going to die. I hate Eve.”
On top of that she had to cooperate with the pain, because the doctors wanted her to push. There were grunts, groans, and tears. It was a painful situation. But she didn’t quit.
Why? Because she knew that at the end of the process, no matter how long it took, hour after hour, at the end of the process, something was going to be born.
She counted it all joy, not because of the pain, but she counted it all joy because she knew what would be produced because of the pain. If you asked her when she held that baby in her arms for the first time if it was worth it, she’d tell you yes.
In fact, the reason I know she and many other ladies think that it’s worth it is because they decide to do it again. God wants us to know that when He allows or brings a trial into our lives, it is with the purpose of giving birth to something—birth to a new reality of Jesus Christ, birth to a new level of spiritual growth, and birth to new depths.
In trials you don’t feel happy and don’t feel bad that you don’t feel happy, because usually with trials there is no love and happiness. However, God wants us to know that our experiences, although painful at times, are not in vain.
The point
Childbirth's pain is bearable because the mother knows joy will follow; similarly, God uses trials to produce spiritual growth and new dimensions of Christ's character.