The Time of Birthing is Upon Us!
Our family was blessed recently to welcome our fourth grandchild into the world, a baby boy. Unexpectedly, our daughter had to have an emergency C-section because the baby's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck several times causing his heart rate to begin to plummet. We are so grateful that both mom and newborn son came through okay, and are both doing well.
Through this whole experience God began to speak to me about the new things He is birthing in the earth today. I realized that the enemy always opposes what God is birthing. He wants to abort the plans that God has for revival and harvest in this new era, but I am reminded of Isaiah 66:9, "Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" says the Lord." The implied answer is, of course, "NO!" God's plans and purposes will prevail.
It's Nesting Time!
Though we never know exactly when a baby will arrive, we always prepare for their arrival. We get the nursery ready and make sure we have everything we will need. Likewise, God gives us a window of time to prepare for the new things He is birthing. This preparation process is part of how we steward the move of God as He births it.
The listening Church will have found herself in the "nesting phase" right now. This is a time of intentionally making things ready for the coming harvest. The American Pregnancy Association says, "Nesting during pregnancy is the overwhelming desire to get your home ready for your new baby." Just as a newborn's parents ready their home, making sure they have everything they will need to take care of a newborn, the Church is to be getting everything ready and in place to welcome the coming harvest. It is a time of equipping, training, mobilizing, and preparation to embrace the newborns of the kingdom.
A church that is tuned into what God is birthing will be serious about welcoming the harvest and making plans to take care of the new believers that are coming into the kingdom. Who will disciple them? Who will help them receive emotional and physical healing? Who will train and equip them? These and other questions need to be carefully considered by those in leadership so that we steward well the harvest of souls so precious to God's heart.
A newborn requires commitment, sacrifice, hard work, and LOTS of unconditional love. The new things that God is birthing will require these things as well and more.
Transition and Transformation
Though there is a corporate birthing process happening right now, there is also a personal birthing process happening in many as well. It has been a great time of sifting, shifting, moving, and transition for many of God's people.
We know that the transition phase is the last part of active labor and the most intense and painful time. The Church has been in this transition phase for some time now, and many have felt and experienced the pressure and squeezing. The pressure is a necessary part of the birthing process and God uses the pressure and squeezing to conform us into His image and move us to the next phase of where we need to be with Him. God doesn't always cause the painful pressure we experience, but He does promise to work all things together for our good as we submit to His Spirit. Unneeded things fall off during this phase, and spiritual muscles are developed through perseverance and persistence. He is readying His Church to house and steward well this great outpouring of His Spirit.
We know that a butterfly goes through an amazing transformation process as it is hidden within the chrysalis. Birthing something can be a lonely and sometimes painful process, and it is easy to feel frustrated, hopeless, or even abandoned. But, God is revealing that He has not left us alone, but is intimately involved in our process, overseeing every detail to make sure we emerge beautiful and powerful like the butterfly. God is not just on the other side of our birthing process, but He is right in the trenches with us, cheering us on, and giving us whatever we need to see our process through to completion.
Phenomenal transformation takes place within the dark walls of the chrysalis, and any onlooker might say that it looks unimportant and ordinary. But, the process occurring inside is anything but ordinary. It is extraordinary, in fact, as the word "metamorphosis" which is used to describe the transformation process, can also be defined in the Google Dictionary as "a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means." The work God does in the lives of each one of us is beyond our comprehension. I believe He is thrilled to display His glory through each person as each one reveals a different and unique facet of His kingdom. But, this revealing can take time as God is at work birthing things both individually and corporately during this time.
What a privilege and honor to be alive "For such as time as this"! We are on the precipice of so many great things and an outpouring that those who came before us only dreamed of. Though the enemy has pulled out all the stops to attempt to derail and abort the move that God is birthing, I know that God will be victorious! We are about to see God move in such an epic and glorious way all across the earth. It's time to prepare, Church. The time of birthing is upon us!
