Labor of Love

Well, a few days later and I'm still obsessing about Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God album.  And my favorite song is still Labor of Love.  As I was singing along this morning, I was thinking about the phrase, "It was a labor of pain."  I love the realism.  In my own sadness, I can  relate to Mary's painful experience.  Of course, I can recall my own painful labor moments.  But then, labor is a painful experience that ends in a beautiful, new miracle.  Because of the end result, it's a pain worth going through.

And then I think, there are other painful experiences that don't feel worth going through: grief and loss, for example.  They are painful to no purpose, no miraculous ending.  Just pain.

But then, almost instantly, God brings a passage to mind from Romans 8:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

What this tells me is that even this pain of grief and loss is like the pains of childbirth.  The whole creation groans with it.  But at the end of the pain, instead of the new life being a child as in the case of childbirth, in this case, the new life is the redemption of a promise, the renewal of the whole of creation, the renewal of our broken bodies, the adoption into a perfect family, the setting free from bondage, the attaining glory and freedom.  The comparison to our pain here in this life to childbirth is a promise of hope in our grief.  There IS something beautiful that will come from this pain.  There is a miracle, a rebirth, a better life.

But now, we wait for it with patience.  We endure the pain in hope and joy because we know that there is a miracle waiting on the other side of it.

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The second thing that strikes me every time I hear this song: my husband is so very much like the description of Joseph.  He works ceaselessly both at work and at home.  He has no idea what it is to feel the way I feel because he is just not made that way.  I feel.  He accomplishes.  He has no idea what I'm going through, in the same way that Joseph, or any man, could know what labor is like.  But he has truly been the noble man by my side, helping me get done what needs to get done.  He walks in ready to lay down his own agenda to meet the whim of my mood, whatever it may be.  I know this can't be easy, but it has been noble.

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Lastly, I get so emotional that I can't sing the words every time I get to this phrase:

But the baby in her womb, He was the Maker of the moon, He was the Author of the faith that could make the mountains move.

THAT baby is the baby that changes everything.  He is the baby that makes it possible for my pain to be mixed with joy and peace. And He makes that possible by coming to give up His life to forgive the sin of His people and to bring them into a new kingdom where there will be no more death or grief or pain.  He is the Maker of the moon, who came to defeat sin and death, but He came as a baby, born to two poor kids, in a stable.


Lyrics to Labor Of Love :

It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love