Birth Pains
I have been noticing lately how intense one area of world news will get, and then it seems to calm down, then another area will flare up, and then calm down. If you consider the headlines over the last few months, it seems like the story builds and builds, and then weirdly subsides into the background.
If you think about the stories of the last few months: Euro collapse, Greece riots, Syrian conflict, Iran's nuclear weapons, the Arab spring, Earthquakes, the US (and global) drought and its implications...I could go on for a few more lines! Each of these stories ebbs and flows into the news cycle. Just when it seems like something big might happen, the story quickly fades into the background.
If you watch, there is a pattern to it. It sways from natural disaster, to economic disaster, to world conflict, and then back around the horn. Always building, but then seeming to go away.
You might attribute this to sensationalist reporting, but there is an agreement in the cycle to what Jesus described. Jesus said these things were "birth pains" to a great global change He said was about to overtake the earth. Everyone knows birth pains are contractions. If you have ever walked through a pregnancy yourself or with a mom, you know the contractions startle you when they first start, but they are few and far between. Way before the baby is going to be born, you feel the first contractions. Surely, as the delivery date nears, the contractions get more pronounced, and more regular. By the time it is all done, they are so regular and predictable, you could count them out and know the baby is about to be delivered!
We are in a time when the contractions are just beginning to show some rhythm. The bible says that the contractions are going to become so regular that we will actually know what is coming next. The Judgments in Revelation are numbered, ordered, and written out 2,000 years in advance. These are the final contractions to the birth of a whole new age of existence built on Jesus' love! The bible says the judgment in Revelation will be so predictable those that belong to Jesus will actually pray in agreement with each other, and heaven, for them to be released. If you look at the time frames in Revelation, the length of time for each event gets more and more predictable and ordered. What an amazing analogy to actual birth!
If you watch the news, you can see it building right now. This is the most amazing time to be alive. Birth is such an amazingly beautiful and terrifying process. I remember when each of our kids were about to be born. I think it was scarier for me than Sam in some ways. I knew what was coming and was scared for Her, but she was so connected to it that it made beautiful sense to walk through the pain. The same is true with Jesus' plan to bring to delivery His Kingdom. I want to be so connected to Him that the beauty outweighs the pain.
Many people I have talked to lately have given up watching the news altogether. I understand that feeling, but personally I think this is a mistake. There is so much information in the Bible that speaks to what is happening in the news. To not "watch" what is happening on the global stage flies right in the face of what Jesus said over and over "watch and be ready." He didn't say this for His sake, He said it for ours!
Mark 13:7 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. 8 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
35 You, too, must keep watch! For you don't know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. 36 Don't let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. 37 I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!"
If you think about the stories of the last few months: Euro collapse, Greece riots, Syrian conflict, Iran's nuclear weapons, the Arab spring, Earthquakes, the US (and global) drought and its implications...I could go on for a few more lines! Each of these stories ebbs and flows into the news cycle. Just when it seems like something big might happen, the story quickly fades into the background.
If you watch, there is a pattern to it. It sways from natural disaster, to economic disaster, to world conflict, and then back around the horn. Always building, but then seeming to go away.
You might attribute this to sensationalist reporting, but there is an agreement in the cycle to what Jesus described. Jesus said these things were "birth pains" to a great global change He said was about to overtake the earth. Everyone knows birth pains are contractions. If you have ever walked through a pregnancy yourself or with a mom, you know the contractions startle you when they first start, but they are few and far between. Way before the baby is going to be born, you feel the first contractions. Surely, as the delivery date nears, the contractions get more pronounced, and more regular. By the time it is all done, they are so regular and predictable, you could count them out and know the baby is about to be delivered!
We are in a time when the contractions are just beginning to show some rhythm. The bible says that the contractions are going to become so regular that we will actually know what is coming next. The Judgments in Revelation are numbered, ordered, and written out 2,000 years in advance. These are the final contractions to the birth of a whole new age of existence built on Jesus' love! The bible says the judgment in Revelation will be so predictable those that belong to Jesus will actually pray in agreement with each other, and heaven, for them to be released. If you look at the time frames in Revelation, the length of time for each event gets more and more predictable and ordered. What an amazing analogy to actual birth!
If you watch the news, you can see it building right now. This is the most amazing time to be alive. Birth is such an amazingly beautiful and terrifying process. I remember when each of our kids were about to be born. I think it was scarier for me than Sam in some ways. I knew what was coming and was scared for Her, but she was so connected to it that it made beautiful sense to walk through the pain. The same is true with Jesus' plan to bring to delivery His Kingdom. I want to be so connected to Him that the beauty outweighs the pain.
Many people I have talked to lately have given up watching the news altogether. I understand that feeling, but personally I think this is a mistake. There is so much information in the Bible that speaks to what is happening in the news. To not "watch" what is happening on the global stage flies right in the face of what Jesus said over and over "watch and be ready." He didn't say this for His sake, He said it for ours!
Mark 13:7 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. 8 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
35 You, too, must keep watch! For you don't know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. 36 Don't let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. 37 I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!"
Comments
Post a Comment
I appreciate your comments.