Pain for a Purpose

I have an appreciation for people who are real, honest, and sometimes down and dirty with details (by this I mean the messiness of life). So when I was looking for a book to read during my pregnancy, I wanted something raw; stories not often told by people. Because frankly, most people talk about how much they LOVED pregnancy, but I wasn't sure I would feel that way.

Fortunately, I came across the perfect book, "Creating with God: The Holy Confusing Blessedness of Pregnancy" by Sarah Jobe. It is a wonderful blend of the pregnancy horrors, funny moments, and beauty that the author discovered about pregnancy, while describing how God uses women to join Him in Creation. 

I am about half way, but just had to share my favorite chapter so far, called "Suffering and New Life," as I can definitely relate. The author begins with a few gruesome stories of painful experiences during her pregnancy, as well as a few of her friends' stories, some that are funny looking back on...some of which I've experienced myself.  Others, are beyond painful just thinking about, such as a mentor of hers who was paralyzed during her last trimester. 

Because of these stories, Jobe searched references in the Bible to find the word labor and found that "…when the Bible imagines labor, the Bible imagines panting, pain, and death close behind." Several prophets use the pain of pregnancy as a metaphor to describing times of suffering for the people of Israel.  Even in our society, where pain during labor can be reduced, we all know that part of pregnancy is learning to suffer.

But the chapter gets better as the author compares a woman's suffering in giving life to, that of Jesus' sacrifice to bring us eternal life. Now I know…it seems a bit of a stretch and she is by no means placing them both on the same playing field, but it is comforting to think of the pain I have experienced throughout this pregnancy, and will continue to as I head towards the labor table, as just a small piece of sacrifice, similar to Christ's. I'd like to think that through this, I am baring the image of God even more so than usual :) Praise God for this difficult season as I am strengthened and stretched to become more like God!