I walked into the house just as she was having a strong contraction, her husband stood beside her as she breathed through the pain. I quietly set my bag down on the couch and retrieved my Bible. I had packed light, my purse only contained a diet Dr. Pepper and my Bible for what could be a long wait. Soon another contraction came; maybe it wasn’t going to be a long wait after all!
The house remained quiet and still, save the giant boxer hidden in his crate in the corner of the room fiercely licking peanut butter out of a Kong.
Thumbing through the pages of Psalms I stopped at a familiar section and began to read.
“I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire;
He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”
I could feel the muscles in her back relax and her breathing steady as I continued to read.
“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to God.”
As I am reading, I earnestly pray that with each word, God is fulfilling his promises to her just has he did for King David as he penned this Psalm.
When you speak words of truth, the very words of God, the power of the Holy Spirit flows through you. It is like an intense episode of the goose bumps, not the kind that leave you freaked out, but the kind that leave the realization that God is present and awe for him overwhelms you.
The contractions continue to wave in regular intervals preparing her body for the delivery of a baby. Soon the midwife arrives flustered from the traffic that frequently plagues our little town outside of DC. She brings her things in and sets up in the master bedroom.
As the contractions get more intense she asks me to read again……
“Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust.”
I must have read from Psalm 40 three or four times and others like it that day, calling on God to be merciful and to uphold my friend and her child through the stages of labor.
Within two hours of arriving and only five hours of labor it was time for delivery. Her arms are around her husband’s neck. She confides in her love that she doubts her strength to continue. He whispers words of encouragement and of a promise of protection. It is time. With anxious hearts we call on God to bring the child safely out as for a brief moment his shoulders hesitate. Out loud the midwife and I are praying, the husband is focused and my friend is pushing with all her might.
It is a moment I will never forget, it was powerful, God’s very presence was so tangible! To each of our prayers God said YES! Only moments after those anxious thoughts, a calm and peaceful child lay in the arms of his mother.
He indeed hears the prayers of His people. He stands at the ready to intercede for those who call on His name. To Him be all honor and glory for His love and power.
