For Christians, suffering is labour pain

I'm on a girls' retreat this weekend with 2 of my friends from university and the rest, relaxation and reflection at this gorgeous retreat centre (http://www.kingfisherbay.ca/) has been great so far. As we were walking this afternoon on the snow-covered trails, we talked about what we're learning from God lately, and one of them shared an analogy/metaphor from Henri Nouwen that I thought was just beautiful:

“Something new will be born out of the pain. Jesus calls our pains ‘labour pains’.” (Henri Nouwen)

It made me think of that verse from Romans 8:28:- "We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose". Every painful situation in our lives will birth something beautiful, because God promises to work all things together for good. For Christians, suffering is labour pain. How encouraging and hopeful!

Even thinking about the big winter storm that caused us to postpone our trip fits with these thoughts. Yesterday it snowed and snowed and snowed and we couldn't come to Kingfisher last night as we planned. But today, when we finally arrived, the sun was out and something beautiful was birthed through the blizzard.... beautiful snow covered trees and glistening snowy trails.... something new was born in the storm.

“Our glory is hidden in our pain, if we allow God to bring the gift of Himself in our experience of it. If we turn to God, not rebelling against our hurt, we let God transform it into greater good.” (Henri Nouwen)