Birth Pains and Travail
Spiritual birth pains are the struggles one undergoes in the process of spiritual maturity. A process of refining and pruning always takes place in order for us to grow in the Lord and in order for us to give birth to the fullness of Christ in our lives. Many of us are currently going through this process individually. For some of us, the more we want the manifestation of Jesus in our lives, the more we are being stripped away from everything outside of Christ that we held higher than him. As followers of Christ, we are starting to experience this birth pains at a personal level, but a day is coming when the church will have to corporately experience labor pains. In that process the Lord will refine his church as a goldsmith refines gold. Once someone told me that the goldsmith uses fire to eliminate all the impurities from the gold, and he won’t stop putting fire over the metal until seeing his reflection on it. Once he sees himself on the gold he knows the process of refining is completed. In the same manner God deals with us. He allows us to go through trials and tribulations for the sake of purifying us and conforming us more into his likeness. In the last days, the church will have to go through a process of purification. The hit will get turned up but is all with the purpose of becoming more like Jesus. Daniel 12:1 says that a time is coming when Michael, the great prince who protects God’s people, will arise and there will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time God’s people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.” And Daniel 12:10 says that during that time many will purity, cleanse and refine themselves; but the wicked will keep acting wicked, and none of the wicked will understand. But the ones with discernment will understand.
At that time all that can be shaken will be shaken, for the sake of cleansing God’s hose and for the sake of Israel’s spiritual rebirth. The church will undergo birth pains, and those pains or struggles will help us grow into maturity as a body. Israel simultaneously, will undergo birth pains as well in order to deliver the Son of God as a nation. If you are a mother and you are reading this you can probably relate to the process of delivering a child. I’ve given birth to two children without any pain medication and can testify that going into labor is very PAINFUL. But once you give birth to the child and you look at it, and you hold it in your arms your joy is overwhelming. So the pain is just part of the process of spiritual delivery, but once the Son of God is formed in us our joy shall be made full! And we won’t only deliver the mature Son of God into the world but also all Israel shall be saved. For His anger will endure but a moment and in his favor there is light: weeping may endure for a night, but joy will come in the morning!
Galatians 4:19 “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you […]”
Revelation 12:2-42 “She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”
Isaiah 54:1 “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor”