Growing a human is the weirdest thing I’ve ever done. It’s also the most God-infused thing I’ve ever done. I know that, really, I don’t have much control over what’s going on in there. Every time she kicks, I realize that this girl is operating outside of my brain and my control. She has her own mind. Fortunately for me, she is aligning her mind with mine, in that she’s not rebelling and trying to come out before she’s ready, or refusing the nutrients I’m giving. She’s got her own mind (with a mind to punch!), but she’s going along with my mind for now — and that’s good. Because my mind wants what’s best for her.
This whole experience is teaching me a lot about Jesus.
You see, I am told that I am to have the same mind as Christ (Phil. 2:5). But really, I can’t have the exact same mind of Christ. One, He’s God. And I will never, ever have a God-brain. Two, He had His own brain and I have mine, and the two are not the same. What we can have, though, is the same will. I can operate under His will, conforming my mind to be like His. Just like my little girl is doing now with me.
You see, if our daughter rebelled and tried to come out before she was ready, it would be devastating. She’s not properly developed, and so my mind and my will and my body are trying to keep her snug inside until she IS ready. But if she was against that plan, it would not be good for her. If she neglected the nutrients I offered, it would also lead to devastating results. She needs to grow in order to be strong, but if her mind wasn’t on growth, she would suffer and ultimately die.
You and I are the same way. If we don’t conform our mind to Christ’s, we’re in for devastating results. If we choose to instead rebel against the commands that God has given us, to go outside of Christ instead of staying safely inside the fold, we will be in eternal danger. We will be giving up a place of rest and blessing and life for a place of fire and brimstone and death and pain and fear. Christ knows what’s best for us, and if we’ll conform our will to His and stay where He would have us to stay (in Him – Eph. 1:3, Gal. 3:26-27), then we will be blessed. Both now and forevermore.
The same can be said of denying His nutrients— the Word that He offers as our meat! If we choose to deny growth, to ingest only junk (the world), then we are going to die, spiritually speaking. A Christian who isn’t growing is a Christian heading toward spiritual death (Hebrews 6:4-8). We understand the concept when it relates to a child in the womb, why don’t we understand when it comes to our relationship with Christ? We need food! We need water! And Christ is that bread and that water, but we have to be willing to partake! We must be willing to dig into the meat of the word and to grow into people whose minds look more and more like Jesus’.
Ultimately, I just need to learn the lesson that God is teaching me through this pregnancy: that I am as dependent upon Him as my daughter is upon me.
I don’t need to rebel against His commands — that’s not good for me. It will have dire consequences. And I don’t need to neglect His sustenance. It will only lead to spiritual death.
