Premature Delivery

And they arrived ahead of schedule.

And they came before you anticipated.

And they came before the due date.

And you thought it was just an early warning of what would come later.

Yet within moments, within hours, the same day, they were delivered unto you.

You found yourself telling everyone it was a false alarm, to telling them their arrival was imminent.

Yet I gave you just enough time to hand it over.

For what was foretold, was now imparted, what was prophesied now has come to pass.

For that which I proclaimed would come, now arrives.

As yet immature.

As yet before it’s due date.

As yet fully formed.

For one had consumed all that was available, and the other was starved of sustenance.

Yet I had promised to sustain that which I had proclaimed.

For I had made a claim on that which was yet to be delivered.

For I paid for it in advance.

I was not unprepared for what was arriving. I stepped in to ensure their arrival. I chose an early date for this moment.

For you had prepared for what was to come, yet now it arrives before you.

I shortened the gap between what was foretold, to that which now unfolds.

For you still remember it now.

In one moment saying good bye to your beloved wife, and then in the next moment saying hello to the mother of your children.

For that which was deposited, now is withdrawn.

That which is multiplied, that which has outgrown, that which has developed, is now birthed.

For the union of the two, usually brings forth the one, yet your destiny was always to multiply.

For from the one shall come the many.

For the two shall become one flesh.

From the union, from the intersection, comes the diversity, the multiplication, the expansion, the harvest, the community of blessing.

For it was always in development.

Yet there are stages of development.

First the longing.

Second the arrival.

Third the encounter.

Fourth the passion.

Fifth the embrace.

Sixth the kiss.

Seventh the union.

Eighth the conception.

Ninth the growing.

Tenth the reaching of capacity.

Eleventh the breaking free of containment.

Twelfth the manifestation of that which is new.

Thirteenth the nurturing of the baby.

Fourteenth the weaning of the baby.

Fifteenth the maturing of that which was immature.

For what I develop on the inside must be released on the outside.

For that which I have deposited within must be released without.

For when that which is within arrives in the place that is without everything changes.

For I have made room for more, pressed down, shaken together running over.

For what you see as the empty place, is such the space I have allocated for fullness.

The wide open, barren place, is just the place I have cleared out to deposit more.

You remember this moment don’t you?

Yes Lord, clearing away the weeds and preparing the ground to receive the seed, and in that moment you place a huge box full of fruit in the empty space.

For your gift shall make room for you.

In the birthing you released something unique, something so blessed you are still receiving such joy from it.

For this is not a static gift but a transformative one.

For this gift grows and multiplies. This gift has a life of its own.

It is the complete manifestation of my goodness, yet it remains in development.

For what I have given you is not a static thing but a transformative thing.

At what point do you call a tree, a tree?

For at first it is unrecognisable, yet the seed carries the blueprint of all that is coming, but not yet arrived.

When you look upon your offspring it has taken you decades to find evidence of their point of origin.

The time of their arrival was foretold by man, “this is the due date” they declared, and even their mother declared that these contractions will pass as “they are not yet due”.

In the prior season, in the season of the overdue, in the season of delay, you were accustomed to the wait.

Yet in this season, in the season of the early arrival, in the season of the immediate, in the season of the unexpected, in the season of premature, you wonder how you will cope.

For you once were a husband, but now you are a father and a husband!

When you were a husband, you did not know how to be a father.

When the babies were born, in that moment you became a father, yet did not know how to be one.

I still remember it like it was yesterday, trying not to pass out in the operating theatre, trying to be strong for my beloved, and before I knew it, I heard the cry of my son, seconds later I was holding him in my arms.

And you say unto yourself how will I cope with this new season?

But in a moment you shall know what it is you have been carrying.

For that I put inside you, will soon rest in your hands.

For the unseen, shall be seen, the intangible union, shall become tangible, shall be manifest.

For I am accelerating movement in this season.

It will come before you expect, it will rest in your hands before you think you are ready, but in a moment you will discover all that comes naturally to you.

For some things require preparation, others are delivered unto you in order to show you who you really are.

For the developing one, placed in the arms of the mature one shall flourish.