IN THE MIDST OF LABOUR (3)
Irewamiri had a typical morning routine of getting things set for the school while I had to bath Danielle and get her ready also. As laboured progressed, we had to decide to either abandon everything and focus on labour or just carry on with our morning schedule in the midst of it all- we focused on our morning schedules.
She got into the kitchen and began to cook. When it gets a bit tough, I would take over and go back and forth from her receiving instructions on what she was cooking. We did all to ensure that the pain was not our focus. It would not stop us from doing our best as we would normally do.
Friends, I learnt a major lesson there. Pain wants to stop you from achieving other things. Pain would love to be the centre of attraction. Pain would want you to abandon other good things you are meant to do. However, you must ensure that the pain does not change who you are.
If the pain of being mistreated by Potiphar, His wife and colleagues who could not defend the truth became the focus of Joseph, he would have also mistreated the “ticket” out of the prison into the palace. The labour pains did not change Joseph.
Think about Jesus on the cross. In the midst of the pains of betrayal, denial and embarrassment for a sin he never committed, he still did not change. He was taking care of family responsibilities, hearing the plea of a criminal and praying forgiveness for his adversaries. The labour pain did not change him.
Think about David. He was being hunted down by King Saul, rejected by the Philistines and now his wives and children (plus those of his men) have been carried away by the Amalekites yet his men still saw a wounded Egyptian who needed help and they stopped to care for him. The labour pains did not change them.
If the labour pains of what you expect turn you into something people do not expect, even your helpers would keep a distance from you. The labour pains must not change you.
A waiting Sarah must still be hospitable to a fault. A waiting Ruth must still be loving to a Naomi that seems like she had nothing left to offer. A waiting Zechariah must still carry out his priesthood duties. Zechariah did not “stab” church. In doing what you can do, labour still progresses and the seed you desire would soon be birthed.
Do not get snobby. Do not become short-tempered. Do not abandon other things. Give yourself no excuse to make the pain your focus. Rather, ensure that you are committed to all God has blessed you with. In the mix of it all, what you await is knocking on the door.
Today, I pray for all awaiting a miracle: In the midst of your labours, your water will turn to wine. The ordinary will become extraordinary. Every pain becomes the channel for a miracle. Amen.