A pregnant creation
Peter Neilson
February 28, 2017
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Romans 8:18-27
18-21 That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s withinus. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
Cosmic God,
I am breathless in wonder
as you manage a universe
of infinite complexity
and yet pay attention to this prayer.
Creator God,
our world of storms and floods
of tornadoes and tsunamis
of failed crops and dried up wells
screams for Your day of redemption
praying in silent pain
beyond my occasional bleating.
Renewing God,
your world waits on tiptoe
for that new Creation
living in hope
within your “force-field of resurrection”.
Spirit of God,
stir in me that prophetic praying
that gives voice to the pain of our world.
When words fail,
grant me the Spirit-language
of the gift of groans
in the echo chamber of the soul,
where God prays to God
and God answers as only God can. AMEN
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