After my first baby was born, I took four years before I took the plunge to have another baby. We were elated to hear that I was pregnant and mentally started preparing for the change. I went for a check up and confirmed that a baby was on its way. One day to my utmost dismay I saw blood – I was spotting. I panicked. I cried. It was late in the evening and a Sunday. There was nothing I could do, except wait till morning to find out what was happening. My husband had taken my older son out for swimming, I did not want to scare him so decided to wait.
In the meanwhile, Brother Shyju happen to call. I told him regarding the situation; we immediately prayed and hung up. When my husband came home, I informed him about my condition, he heard me quietly and then looked straight into my eyes and asked “So you think there is a problem? You think you have lost the baby?” I really did not know how to respond to that. He held my hand and said, “ This is God’s gift to us, why would He take it away, why did we decide to have this baby? Because we have heard God say its time – trust Him, go to sleep, all is well”
Although I did not feel so, I decided to quit worrying and go with my husband’s faith. As soon as it was morning I called the hospital to get a sonography done on an urgent basis. The doctor was informed about the previous night’s condition and so she took me in immediately, she looked at me and said “What blood? You and the baby are perfectly alright, now go back home and relax”
I breathed a sigh of relief, with my husband smiling and a look on his face that said, “I told you so!”
Well this happened in the second month; I still had 7 months before I could see my baby’s face. Each day I would pray for its health and safety and slowly I also started believing God for a painless delivery. I reminded God that pain during labor was a curse and the curse was broken upon the cross. So technically speaking there was no reason why I should be suffering all over again – especially after the first labor which was LONG and GRUELLING.
My baby was due to arrive on the 7th of Jan, but well, there was a delay and so we waited…….Jan 20, 21st — no signs of the baby….then on the 22nd of Jan I woke up and after breakfast, told my husband, “I think we need to go to the gynac today. Also let’s carry my bag.” We reached there around one in the afternoon. When she saw me, her first question was “Where have you been, why haven’t you come for a check up?” Well… I really did not feel the need (I thought to myself).
Anyway while she checked me, she looked a little surprised and asked, “Are you not feeling any pain?” I said “No”. “Well, get admitted right away as its time for your delivery,” she said. I asked her how much time I have. She said “Another 3 hours probably.”
I said “Well then, I’ll come back, I have to pick my older son from school, drop him at mom’s place, give him lunch and come back.”
She looked rather shocked “Is this really a woman in labor?” She asked “Are you sure?” Oh yeah, we booked the room and left, we came back after an hour….. The rest is HISTORY!!! The doctors, nurses all came from time to time asking me the same question – do you not feel any pain? All I could say was “No – I feel no pain” I knew exactly when the contractions came and how long it lasted, but felt no pain.
All this while my husband was with me in the room, reading from Psalms holding my hand. The baby arrived much before time to their surprise, the labor was smooth. For me this is a miracle as I know what it feels like to have a painful labor.
As soon as the baby was delivered, the nurse cleaned him up and handed him over to his father who was waiting with the rest of the family in the lobby. My husband immediately went to the room and without wasting another minute dedicated our baby to the Lord. I was not even present!! We named him Jeremiah.
(A little about my first pregnancy- I had started wanting a painless labor during my first pregnancy too, but there were many who said that I was crazy and that it was not possible. In fact when the labor was delayed I had heard someone sneer outside my labor room that it’s all because of my foolish prayer. Pain is essential for a good normal delivery; I lost all faith and started asking God for pain and what a painful delivery it was! I literally pleaded and begged the nurse for painkillers. When she tarried, I caught hold of another nurse and said “If you don’t give me a painkiller now, I will kill you” That is how bad it was).
So this time round we were wiser and smarter, we did not allow anyone who lacked faith to hang around us. The Bible says “Without Faith it is impossible to please GOD” (Heb 11:6) while with faith we have been given the ability to move mountains! (Matthew 17:20).
I would like to add, I am not advertising anything here, just stating my testimony. I know a lot of people who have claimed and believed God for a painless delivery and experienced nightmares in labor, I know of a friend who had two painless deliveries without doing any believing, any claiming. For me however this is a miracle because I know it’s not normal for my body to respond to labor without pain, my first one was a good indicator of that.
What I would like to emphasize is that our walk is a walk of Faith and the Bible says faith comes by hearing, and hearing the voice of GOD is what we must do. If God is leading you to pray and ask for a particular thing then pray you must, you will be rewarded. We clearly felt God leading us to pray for a painless delivery… so we did. We have felt God lead us to pray in many other instances and whenever we have obeyed, we have seen results. Whenever I have taken up issues in faith or prayed out of my own volition though, I have only been tired and experienced frustration and fatigue running after it. Just claiming verse after verse from the bible as our own has not helped us at all, but when we have felt God leading us to ask or pray about a certain issue we have seen it bear fruit. I encourage you – dear reader – to not be in a hurry to pray, rather to wait, hear His voice and then pray.
I write this to remind myself of God’s unfailing love and help many others who are on the brink of distrust/faithlessness or on the verge of giving up to gear up…. Rise up, take your place and believe.
A question, especially to the sisters out there, how have you claimed the word of God for your situation, especially w.r.t pregnancy and how has God proved Himself faithful to His word?
