Epidural or Midwife?

Paul and Barnabas went through the province of Galatia “strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said.” - Acts 14:22

“I hoped faith would be an epidural for pain. Turns out to be a midwife who says “Push. I’m here. Sometimes it hurts.” - Brené Brown

As we think consider the faith of Naomi this week it’s important not to blink or turn away from her suffering. So often we want our faith to be an epidural: to take away our pain or at least to take the edge off it. It’s so much easier to push hardship away with a trite saying like “everything happens for a reason” or even the Christianized version of it, “all things work together for good.”

And yet Naomi kept living through it. She named it. She grieved it. She shouted her pain at God. She renamed herself “bitter.” And yet somehow still believed. She embodied what Paul said about going through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. It is not an easy journey. Never was. Never will be.

So what pain are you hiding from right now? What discomfort, disappointment, or despair are you trying to reason away so that you don’t have to face the full force of it? Join with Naomi today, naming pain, perhaps even renaming yourself for a season as needed, and speaking directly to God about it.