Motherhood And The Gospel: A 5-Day DevotionalSample

Laboring with Hope

The Bible contains many instances of the birth metaphor to teach us about God. In our passages above we learn that all creation is experiencing the agony of birth pain as it waits for its ultimate renewal at the end of the age. Birth pain is a picture of how a Christian awaits final glory.

The ground really is cursed, but it really will be redeemed and made new. History really is going somewhere, and things are not yet the way they will forever be.

Maybe you know what it feels like to birth a baby out of your physical body; maybe you don’t. Maybe this is something you long for, or not. The phenomenon of birth pain points all of us—all of us—to deeply consider the picture God has given us. It’s a picture of what it looks like to wait in pain for a redemption that you can’t see yet. He loves us, and he wants us to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that hope *will* give way to sight. God’s labor over creation and his children will not stall out—he will finish what he started. My hope is that we all would be among those who love the day of Christ’s coming and wait for him with patient, faith-full hearts even while we groan in this world.

Reflection questions:

1. What are you hoping or waiting for in this life?
2. What is the future hope that Paul writes about in Romans 8?
3. How could the biblical theology of childbirth impact how you approach day-to-day life? 

Prayer:

Lord, help me to maintain focus on eternity, not becoming too discouraged by the pain and suffering that can come in this life. Truly ground my heart in the hope of what is to come, in redemption, and in the eternal weight of glory.

Learn more about Labor with Hope: Gospel Meditations on Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood  by Gloria Furman.