coming joy

As labor and delivery draw near (8 more weeks until our due date!), I have found myself becoming more and more anxious about how it will go. How much pain will there be? Will the pain be too much that I'll have to take an epidural? (I would prefer not to.) How long will it take? (The average for first-time moms is 13-18 hours.) What if there are complications? What if they have to use a vacuum or forceps? (Ugh...) What if I tear or need to have an episiotomy? (Gross... Is this grossing you out?... because it grosses me out!) What if I have to have a c-section? (Oww...) Will the baby be ok? Will he be healthy? Will I be ok? (Will Bill be ok?) =)

As eager as I am to finally see William, these are all thoughts that run through my mind since labor and delivery will have to come first. It gives me some comfort to know that women have been doing this since creation (so I am in no way the first to go through this!) and that God has ordained for it to be this way. And if God has ordained it this way, then He will give grace sufficient to walk through it. That's a promise! It encourages me even more to speak to women I know personally who have recently given birth and managed to survive and stay in one piece. =) (Thanks to Amy, Kelly, Fay, Janet, and Esther. You guys have helped to pave the way for me.) But God spoke ever so clearly to me through the devotional from Mom. (Thanks again, Mom!) It was about coming joy:

"When a woman is giving birth she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world."
John 16:21

In the greater context of the passage, this parable about a woman in childbirth is given to the disciples because Jesus is warning them that they will soon experience great sorrow since He is about to be delivered and crucified in the hands of sinful man. Jesus says to them, "A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me... You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:16, 20-22). Although Jesus is warning His disciples about their coming sorrow, He is also communicating to them their coming joy, because He will return to them after the resurrection. According to a commentary series by John Stott, it is a "joy which can be known fully only by those who have endured the pain and experienced the subsequent relief and exultation."

Essentially, there is a bigger picture to look at in this passage. There is a bigger picture than the pain that will have to be experienced. And that is the coming joy and exultation of Christ crucified and His subsequent resurrection. Hebrews 12:2 speaks of the same joy: "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." In other words, it was for the coming joy that Jesus endured the scourge of the cross. There is a greater joy to look forward to that helps to alleviate the current pain and sorrow. It is also a joy that we should be looking forward to when we will one day see God face to face. For in that first moment when we are in God's holy presence, it will make all the difficulties in this life's journey well worth our growth in sanctification and knowing Him. Jesus said to the disciples, "... I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:22). I know that God is with me, that He loves me, and that it is for a coming joy that He desires for me to endure. Regardless of the situation, nothing can pluck me from His hands.