The Advent of Christ - Peace in the Pain

“I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be done to me according to your word.”  Luke 1:38

Nativity scenes illustrate the “Silent Night” peace after the birth of our Savior, but when I imagine young Mary - a virgin, in labor in a barn in Bethlehem, without her mama - peace doesn’t immediately come to mind. The word “peace” contradicts the process of “labor.”

In my first two pregnancies, my mom told me that her mom always told her that if you can open your hands to the pain, the pain lessens. I couldn’t open my hands in labor; I grabbed that pain and held it, white-knuckled, jaw clenched, body tense. No peace there.

When I was expecting our third child, I was lifting very heavy computer tables at work and felt two “snaps” of pain in my lower abdomen- hernias in the muscles that supported the baby.  For the last four months of my pregnancy, whenever I laid down or sneezed, the pain was so blindingly excruciating that I took Granny’s advice and trained myself to open my hands to it.  When I accepted and received the pain with open hands, trusting God with it, I could endure and breathe until it passed.

I prayed a lot during that pregnancy, which ended tragically 28 years ago today when our daughter died of a cord accident during labor. Our expectations turned from joy to heartbreak, as we couldn’t just stop the delivery process because she’d died. There was no peace in that delivery room: people were crying, nurses rushing, and friends and family were in the waiting room. Overwhelmed, I opened my hands to the emotional shock and physical pain. Because I’d practiced it so much, it was habitual to surrender my meager hold on the situation to do what was required: breathe, push.  

During that pregnancy, God taught me I could trust Him with my pain. I’d given my heart to Jesus at age seven, and we’d begun going to church early in 1996, but late on the night of December 12, 1996, I surrendered completely, telling the Father I couldn’t handle this loss on my own. “I sought the Lord and He answered me and rescued me...” Psalm 34:4. He used that painful season to change me, and He’s still changing me.

Mary had surrendered to God long before she tells the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:38: “I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary opens her hands to the unknown in complete and utter trust that He Who promised is faithful. She accepts the long, bumpy donkey ride, the dirty stall, the unfamiliar, and the pain of labor because she trusts God. I imagine Mary felt afraid, but because she was surrendered to Yahweh, with her hands open, He covered her fear and pain with His peace. When we release our hold on situations, our loving Lord will measure His perfect portion of peace into our upturned palms, sustaining us in trying times and showing us Who He is.
 
Pray about a situation where God could grant you His peace if you opened your hands.