“For God is not unrighteous to forget or overlook your labour and the love which you have shown for His name’s sake in ministering to the needs of the saints (His own consecrated people), as you still do.” Heb 6:10 (Amplified)
I don’t know exactly how people arrived at the term, but the phrase ‘labour ward’ certainly conveys the idea that women don’t go there to play, for the task of giving birth involves hard work. For the expectant mother, it is the most dreaded period of the pregnancy, yet nature has designated it as a requirement for bringing new life into the world. Just as you can imagine, people are increasingly finding ways to avoid this excruciatingly painful process, hence the popularity of elective surgery or caesarean birth, which has given rise to the phenomenon known as ‘Too to push’.
The relationship between earnest prayer and the resultant revival can be likened to that which exists between labour and the birth of a child. However, while it can be side-stepped in the latter, it is totally unavoidable in the former. There is no spiritual equivalent of the ‘Too posh to push syndrome’. We all have to hunker down and seek God without a care for our dignity, exhaustion and pain spiritual labour undoubtedly entails. Will our effort be worthwhile? Well, why not ask for the reason why women who in the throes of giving birth often vehemently vow never to again darken the doorways of the labour ward, only to see them repeat the same process time and time again? Why do they keep going back for more? Are they gluttons for pain? Well, it is because the joy of holding a perfectly formed child by far surpasses whatever severity of pain they had to go through to obtain their desired end of having children.
Simeon and Anna, in Luke 2:25-38, certainly understood the euphoria of holding the result of their spiritual labour in their hands. They had both spent the majority of their long lives interceding and praying for the birth of the Messiah, a prayer that was answered by the arrival of Jesus Christ and during whose dedication they were able to give thanks to God. I am sure that both prayer warriors would have done the same again had they been required by God to do so because nothing surpasses the joy of answered prayers. So, the challenge before us is to determine if we will heed God’s call for His people to seek Him so that He can once again powerfully intervene in the affairs of men to further His kingdom objectives. This task is strenuous and there is no guarantee that we will have a quick breakthrough. However, one thing is guaranteed; those who persevere will be amply rewarded because God is not unrighteous to forget our labour of love. He never owes any man and does not remain obligated for long before rewarding us for our faithfulness in seeking Him. Where God is concerned, there is always a pay-day as was evidenced by His allowing Simeon and Anna to see the result of their prayers. So, bearing in mind the fact God always rewards those who diligently seek Him, why not begin to intercede for God’s intervention in the world’s affairs so that His glory can indeed fill the earth as the waters cover the Sea? Never be too posh to push, because the rewards far outweigh the pain.
Prayer:
Father, I know that the necessary task of praying for your move in the world is not easy on the flesh. I ask that you strengthen my resolve to keep asking until I break through into your presence and obtain my desire to see you enthroned and worshipped as you deserve in the world. Amen.