I was scheduled to wear an "Empathy Belly" for 24 hours. This was supposed to give me an idea of what pregnant women go through when they are 6 months pregnant. As I had this belly strapped to me, I endured some crazy back pain, breathlessness while walking, and the need to pee every few minutes.
I mildly chuckled to myself and thought, "Maybe being pregnant isn't what I wanted so badly after all."
That's a lie. I've prayed too hard about being able to get pregnant to feel anything other than desire for my own child.
Through that yucky, fake experience, I found a very intimate time with God. I found it incredible that God could instill maternal instincts in a woman that were so strong that she would want to mother the belly where a baby should be. I found myself reaching for my "belly" several times or being careful not to knock it on things. I had never experienced that before, yet I had the desire to mother what wasn't physically inside me.
That's when it occurred to me... What if a baby had actually been there? I still wouldn't be able to physically see the child unless I viewed it in an ultrasound picture, but let's face it... You can't tell what any baby actually looks like in one of those. An ultrasound can tell you about basic physical attributes. Tests can tell you how that baby works. Monitors can tell you what that baby is feeling.
Is that a lot different from our view of Christ? Our Holy Father is so infinitely incredible and beautiful, but do we treat our being with the same care that we treat our bodies when we have a baby living inside of us? The Bible is there to tell us about God's attributes, how He works, and what He feels... but do we get as excited about that?
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20
If you're a born again Christian, Christ lives within you.
He's shaping you and molding you for His purposes. In a like manner, a baby will shape and mold a woman's body when it lives in the womb. That child grows and you grow with him. The more it grows, the more you love.
What is even more amazing is the fact that you can't love without God so God absolutely has to be a part of that entire process from conception to birth and the life that is to come with that child.
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." - 1 John 4:8
I even believe that God created pregnancy to be in this specific manner so that faith would be a little closer in our grasp. As women, we work to prepare our bodies to be fit for bearing a child. Personally, I've spent countless numbers of prayers focusing on that aspect of my life. I try to stay healthy and I try to do research on how to make the whole process perfect. Making all this preparation for a little something that I can't see for 9 months... but I'll know it's there because I'll be able to feel it and get a small glimpse of it along the way.
I want to apply that same concept to my relationship with God. I want to mold who I am as closely to what He needs me to be to fulfill His will. I need to do my research in the Bible as diligently as I would if I was going to learn how to care for my own child. I need to take care of me and my spiritual health so I can house the King of Kings inside me. Instead of being rewarded with a baby, I'll inherit a mansion in Heaven and a life of praising Him for all eternity.
Ultimately, my Christian preparation will lead me to a happier, healthier baby because I've given it all to God right from the beginning.
I'm thankful that God did not wait for me to be pregnant to reveal this to me. I can make preparations now to make myself a better Christian woman, which is exactly what my future son or daughter will need most of all.
Through My Baby. To My Lord.
I talked with God today.
I told Him about the missing pieces of my heart.
I felt the love in my Groom's embrace.
Under marriage, we are bound.
In God, we are one.
Through my baby. To my Lord.
I felt a change in me.
Something new and so fulfilling.
I know You are inside me.
I feel You moving within me.
I have never laid eyes on You.
But I already love You.
Through my baby. To my Lord.
I grow with You.
I make myself form to Your desires.
Absolutely overwhelmed by the power of Your being.
I'm happy in the journey.
Move aside the parts You don't need.
I want to make Your home in me fit for a King.
Through my baby. To my Lord.
I'm going to meet You face-to-face.
I will behold Your beauty and perfection.
At awe by who You are.
We will hold each other close.
There is nowhere I would rather be.
You are mine. I am Yours.
Through my baby. To my Lord.
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