Great Pain?? Great Glory!!

Nurse: Push! Push!! Push!!!

Woman: I’m trying, it’s too painful…

Nurse: You can do it, just push a little more

Woman: I don’t think I can do it, I can’t bear the pain much longer

Nurse: You are almost there, just one last push…

She screams… A baby cries…

Nurse: Yes!!! You did it, you just gave birth to a bouncing baby boy.

I am sure you know what follows. #winks

Every one of us find ourselves one way or the other in this same situation; faced with unbearable pains we feel we cannot bear for much longer. The excruciating pain we feel we might not survive, a lot of times we think we would be better off dead than to live with such a burden.

However, we are so focused on the present that we lose sight of the future; we are so concentrated on the pains and harsh conditions of today, we forget about what tomorrow holds for us. A lot of times, we predict tomorrow based on the conditions of today rather than the decisions and choices we make today.

A pregnant woman goes through a very painful process of labor before she gives birth; at first the pain seems like it will never end but after she gives birth, she is exhilarated with boundless joy and the pain of the past few minutes or hours is virtually forgotten. Likewise, we all are pregnant with great things, great visions, great inventions, great stories, we have conceived great things; but the process doesn’t end at conception. Joy follows conception but what happens afterwards? Labor and pain. The latter also is not the end product but a means to an end – the emergence of that which was conceived. This comes with joy, excitement, celebrations and much more. However, what happens when the pregnant woman gives up during labor? The same thing that would happen if you give up on your dreams because you feel the route is too difficult and painful.

The road to success is not an easy one; full of thorns, broken bottles, pebbles, obstacles that will cause you great pain; but at the end of the road is an unveiling of joy unspeakable, exhilaration immeasurable, excitement uncontrollable and ultimately a memory loss of the immediate past.

An account of the greatest man that ever lived; Jesus Christ of Nazareth reads thus; “He, for the joy of obtaining the prize that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Don’t give up regardless of what you are faced with; instead, look up and look forward.