Parturient

When adopting our kids, we would occasionally hear comments about how we were “getting our children the easy way.”  That is debatable.  I would dare suggest that every child joins its family with a labor all its own.  But having had the privilege of witnessing 5 births over the years, and experiencing the journey of adoption 3 times, I would also quickly concede that childbirth-labors and adoption-labors have their differences.  But both involve a labor…a painful waiting…a waiting where fretting or getting overly worked up increases the difficulty, whereas breathing steady and doing the next right thing proves helpful.

Today I came across the word parturient.  I was doing a proofreading project for my friend, Pam Forster (let me make a quick, unabashed plug for her resources over at Doorposts).  Well, parturient means “to be in labor” and every mom can relate to that in her own way.  When looking up the Hebrew word that is translated “and wait patiently” in Psalm 37:7, I was very surprised to see that Strong’s definition included “to writhe in pain (especially of parturition)”.   Gesenius’ Lexicon refers to this word in this way: “To twist oneself in pain, to writhe, to be in pain, especially used of parturient women”.  After I finished proofreading, I went back to investigate this passage a little bit more.  I had never thought of "waiting patiently" in those terms.  But note the powerful imagery of a laboring woman as you read Psalm 37:7-8 ~  “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret — it only causes harm.” 

I came away quite encouraged!  We can quiet ourselves in the LORD, breathe steady (deliberately, intentionally) and do the next right thing in the face of the wicked and their schemes…the Psalm tells us how trustworthy the Lord is, how the wicked will be cut off, and how the righteous will inherit the earth…we labor and it is hard work, it is not passive; it is painful at times, but God WILL bring forth His fruit in our lives in His time.  I love the richness of this imagery. And the fruit of our labor will all be worth it.