The day had finally arrived.
Years.
Now, I mean years had gone by…notwithstanding great disappointment.
You see, this was a day of miracles. It shouldn’t even have been happened. Not only were the odds stacked against them, but the physical limitations all but dashed every longing of it happening.
A decade or so earlier they had met.
Some might say it was love at first sight, but really it was two individuals who on the outside seemed like they had it all figured out, but really were young adults crying out for something more. What they really wanted was an escape…a place to flee…or better yet a person who understood them and who could help them cope with the pain that had been a constant companion on their journeys.
Years prior, she was forced to face circumstances that no young girl should ever face. She was destined to build a life of perfection. Her heart told her that, at least.
And when her world crumbled. When the news came. When she finally faced the reality, she was left with an aching knot in her stomach that never seemed to go away.
She did what she thought most people would do…she filled her hours with distraction. And that meant work for her. It was all she could do, and she thought it was enough…at least to help. The financial burden of her family had inadvertently become her burden. Of course, no one wanted it that way, but it happened anyway.
Plodding. Bending. Seeking. She traversed her path with dignity. Here was her time of reckoning. Here was her moment of putting away childish things and assuming her new lot in life.
All the while, she was breaking. She was longing. She was hoping. Would there be someone who would look beyond her facade of strength and see that she was crying out for love…for help…for empathy…for understanding. Someone who would reach in and believe the best in her.
“Would there be…is there anyone…who will love me…someone I can trust…someone who won’t hurt me like everyone else has around me,” she quietly thought to herself on the night he walked in.
He wasn’t supposed to be there that night.
His car had broken down. However, he had the tools to fix the problem and he needed a break before he went to class.
The journey he had found himself on wasn’t the journey he thought he would be on. No, his ambition had taken him to the other side of the state only to find that others were far better than he had ever hoped to be. It was a crushing defeat that led him to this class, and it was a last-ditch effort that led him to this city.
His options had run out when he left home. For so long, he had wanted to be on his own, but now that here he was, and he wondered if he had peaked too early. Was he going to be like every other washout that out-punts his coverage and finds himself slinking back to the protection and care of a safe environment? That wasn’t even an option for him, but the pain of failure still hurt. Deep down, he wondered if his failure would mark him the rest of his life.
The reality was, it wasn’t the first time fear had crept up his spine and settled into his thoughts. You see, ever since he was young he had managed this fear. It had happened years ago. He didn’t expect it…couldn’t articulate it…but he felt it just the same. In fact, he wished and even prayed many times that it would simply go away, but it didn’t. Thus, he accepted the hold of anxiety like a prisoner accepts his bars.
And so, he walked into a restaurant that he had seen many times before carrying with him a deep-seated and ever-present formidable foe of fear when their eyes met.
“She carried herself with dignity,” he thought to himself.
“He holds his shoulder broad,” she thought to herself.
He sat down.
She came to his table.
He looked at her and listened to her voice ask him what he would like to drink.
Minutes quickly turned to moments, and before long they had a conversation in the making.
He left that night with a smile and a hope.
She left that night with a sigh and a dream.
Together they left acknowledging a simple principle that they still laugh at today: “…at least there is someone like the person I just met in this world worth sharing my life with.”
Little did they know that their paths would cross many more times, and ultimately lead to his asking for her hand in marriage.
Little did they know that the sickness that nearly took her life would be the reason why the doctor would say she will never be able to carry a child to birth.
Little did he know that this woman would love him, care for him, and show him how to let his fear of failure slip away.
Little did she know that this man would point her to the One who would satisfy all her longings of trust. The One to whom she would finally surrender her life to and walk as a new creation.
Little did they know what life would bring them, but here they were now…
The day had arrived.
Their journey as individuals that had become a family was now about to become the journey of their first child.
There they were. There was all their family around them. There was the moment they thought would never come.
The room was still–except for the silent humming of music in the background.
She had read all the books. He had attended all the classes with her. They were ready.
It all happened so fast. The doctor handing him the scissors. The cutting away of the life’s source that connected mother to child. The tiny figure cringing in confusion as to why he was taken from the comfort of the womb.
Her sigh of relief as the sharp pain of birth momentarily subsided.
His smile of pride and wonder as he looked at his wife and little baby boy.
Her tired smile as she embraced him and began the methodical process of bringing from her body once again the nourishment that would sustain his life.
He stood amazed.
She lay satisfied.
Together, they brought a new life into this world.
A new life of expectation. A new life of hope. A miracle and a prayer.
And so it is with the birth of a child. Two individuals becoming one. Two lives–in the mystery of God’s creation–bringing to this world one life.
O the wonders of life.
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
Genesis 2:24
How Does This Apply To Us Today?
- Often in life we find ourselves wondering how God might use our current circumstances for good.
- It’s also hard to see how a seemingly out-of-place puzzle piece fits into the larger–more beautiful–picture.
- In other words, God uses our circumstances–both triumphs and tragedies–to create a beautiful mosaic comprised of the details of our lives.
- “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
- When God invades the heart of a human wandering in life, He supplies not only purpose and perspective, but rebirth.
- There’s not a human alive who won’t fail you. There’s not a situation in life that doesn’t present some way for you to fail. This is why God sent His Son. It was into the chaos of a trust-breaking-full-of-failure-world that God became the perfect God-man as not only the provision and object of true trust, but also the example of One who never fails.
- In other words, because we are failed and because we fail, we need Someone who never fails us because He never fails.
- “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
- If you’re firmly rooted it doesn’t matter how hard the wind blows.
- I had a dear friend quote this the other day. His point was like well-driven nails. He understood that life’s challenges can’t ultimately shake the person rooted properly.
- It forces us all to ask, “What am I rooting into on this journey of life?” Weak things produce weak roots.
- “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” Colossians 2:6-7
We press on!