The Birth of the Promise

The Birth of the Promise

I will be a grandfather to this child. I will care for it as my own. Together we shall walk in green pastures, in the sunny meadows.

Psalms 23:1-2 THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.

For I like to walk in the garden….

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day….

Push against the darkness and see the light. This is a breach birth. This one has legs. Strong legs. Legs of power. To leap to new heights. Above the bar. Over the standard. This is a standard setter. A setter of standards.

Isaiah 54:1-4 SING, O barren one, you who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child! For the [spiritual] children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the married wife, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, For you will spread abroad to the right hand and to the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed; neither be confounded and depressed, for you shall not be put to shame….

This is not a natural birth. Not an ordinary birth.

I’m stretching the birth canal. Like a whale giving birth. For this canal shall birth many. It shall be strong.

Romans 8:22-26 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.