It has been a very strange year indeed for me. It’s been one of RELEASE in so many ways. Some of the releases were birthed in pain, immense pain; but once the ring of fire was passed, the fruit of those releases is proving to be glorious.
Beyond that ring of fire (for the men, this represents the most intense & painful part of birth, crowning the head.) has been great freedom, new beginnings, adventure, exploration, and new territory.
The pregnancy can often be beautiful, exciting, and even fun. But there are seasons of pregnancy that are terribly uncomfortable and even painful, and nauseating. But you learn to work through those challenges. You learn how to survive them and keep the end in mind, the goal, always pressing forward through the suck.
Then, that scary and awesome day arrives. It’s time. Grab your Go-Bag, breathe, focus. The most intense, excruciating, and ever changing pain is coming. And your life is about to never be the same.
The stages of labor begin—Light and intermittent contractions, is this it? Is this the real deal?
The contractions are intensifying. They’re getting closer together. It’s getting harder to breathe through them. Standing is becoming a challenge. Walking and distracting through them is helpful.
As the time between contractions gets shorter, flashes of intense pain shake the nerves. Glimpses of the beautiful fruit to come encourage. “Come on! This is is it! This is what we’ve been working towards. We can do this! It’s about to get extremely painful, but the reward is just on the other side. “Break on through to other side!”
Let’s do this!”
The pressure is real. It’s on. It’s succumbing you. It’s coming from deep within you. It’s not a pain that you can massage away, walk off, or ignore. The pain is alive inside you and it’s about to crest!
We’ve been in a season of coping with the pain. But now, we’re about to face the pain head on! We now work with the pain to push through and birth the seed that has fully ripened. It’s time to reap the harvest. This is the most significant pain you’ll ever endure.
The head is entering the canal. Fire! Pure, intense, burning fire!
“Oh God, I don’t know if I can! I don’t know if I can endure! Is there another way? Any other way? God help me. God, give me strength. Give me breath. I can’t stay here, Ok, let’s do it!”
Gutteral groans commense. It feels like the pain will never end and this is where we’ll live. We can’t stay here. We can’t. That would be dangerous. It would bring death.
But then…the head crowns, pushes through…pain unlike anything ever experienced. But there’s more! We’re not done yet. The awkward and slightly less painful shoulders, then the feet. That precious gift, that beautiful seed is born! We did it!
So many seasons. So much change and transition, internally and externally. It seemed like forever. Were we ever going to see the fruit? We endured. We pressed on. We birthed a new season! A new time. A new adventure.
From this point forward my life is forever changed. Some things from the past will never be again. There’s some sadness in that. So much will forever be different. But with the new, there comes excitement, discovery, challenge, beauty, growth, stretching and fruit.
This will be a season of immense personal growth and rediscovery. A season of total trust and surrender to the only One who truly, deeply, carries my heart. This season will stretch me unlike any other and bring a renewed sense of childlike faith. I feel younger than I have in a very long time.
If you’re going through a similar season, seek the One whom your soul longs for. Look to the Man with fire in His eyes. Allow your deep to call unto His deep. Seek Him in His chamber, enter His throne room. Sneak away to that secret place, alone with Him, and gaze deep into His eyes. Allow His eyes of fire to penetrate your soul and rekindle the flames deep within your bosom. Gather up your courage and soar on eagles’ wings! Ride the chariots above the clouds! Let Him carry you away into the adventure of a lifetime!
Seek Him!
Find Him!
Ride with Him!
Soar!
Soar high!