Rejoice For Life – It Comes From The Lord!
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.’ (1 Corinthians 11:12); ‘(1) There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: (2) a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
We rejoice for the birth of a child, as we are doing with the birth of our grandson yesterday – as we did with our other grandchildren when they came into this world. It may later be sobering when we think about the world they are entering, but during the process for those on the sidelines of the birth, it is cautious optimism, hope, and concern until the news of the child comes, then the rejoicing comes out.
For the mother and father, of course, these emotions are amplified tenfold. I remember with both of our children seeing them come out, and counting each finger and toe, seeing them move around and hearing them cry was pure satisfaction. (Six months later, the crying and kicking was out of fashion for their parents, but the kids would still be into it for a bit longer, seemingly until they moved out of the house as adults.)
Solomon, who is considered to be the author of Ecclesiastes, pointed out first, in his listing of life events in chapter 3, the beginning and end of our corporeal life. Each mortal life must begin with birth, and each must end in death. In between these capstone events does are the other encounters we have in the course of life that Solomon gives an account of. He then, in Ecclesiastes 3:10, tells us that God has given us this burden to live through these events that by and large each of us go through, but then gives us the best advice to deal with life – be happy and rejoice in each day the Lord has made!
We can be joyful in our lives if we accept God’s plan and understand that all things were created through Him and for His pleasure and glory. Paul, in writing about proper worshipping etiquette, reminds us in 1 Corinthians 11:12 that woman was created from man (Genesis 2:21). However, after the fall of man through the sin of disobeying God and the subsequent eviction from Eden, women were then given the burden of childbirth (Genesis 3:16). Thus, the woman now gives birth of both men and women. While this is a most noble of roles a woman can have, as with all things that are provided, life comes from God. Our children are provided to us through His design and blessings upon us.
Sometimes it may not always seem like a blessing (that crying and kicking part, for example); we watch our children grow, we see their heartaches, trials and tribulations. As they get older, we see their frailties and failures as well as their strengths and successes. As parents of grown children, we can’t always catch them when they stumble or pick them up off the ground. It makes us proud when they get back up, it saddens us if they stay down.
We, however, were seen through that lens by our parents, and as Christians we must always remember that it is our Lord who watches over them, and we pray that they follow not in our faulty footsteps but His. As with our children and older grandchildren, it is certain our family’s newest ‘bubba’ will have these same burdens he will provide to us. For now, though, we rejoice in this life the Lord has given!
