You’re Pregnant! 

Words that have caused many parents to begin wondering — wondering, what if?  What if this child is the next Bill Gates? . . . the next Condi Rice? . . . the next Peyton Manning? (How about them Colts?) . . .  the next Oprah Winfrey? . . . the next Billy Graham? . . . the next Katherine Hepburn? . . . the next Tiger Woods? . . . the next Mother Theresa? . . . the next Jonas Salk? . . . the next Clara Barton?  And on the list could go, based on who the parents view as successful, motivated, honorable, and meaningful contributors to society.  We all have our list.  If I could just be more like . . ..  And then we have children and we transfer our list to them.  If they could just be more like . . ..  The pressure and expectations soar off the charts.

Speaking of high expectations, take a look at the following birth announcement. 

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”  Isaiah 9:6-7

Oh, yeah — a birth announcement given centuries before the actual birth!  Can you imagine the “what ifs?” of growing up in that culture during that span of history?  The discovery of each pregnancy.  The joyful announcement, “It’s a boy!”  The mind begins to race and wonder, “What if?”.  What if this son will be called “Wonderful Counselor”? . . . “Mighty God?” . . . “Everlasting Father?” . . . “Prince of Peace?”  It seems the questions and wondering would consume families for years, for decades, and for generations.  And then the generations turned into centuries.  What now?  Did many even think it was still possible?  Was there widespread hope or had the multitudes given up? 

I don’t know, but given the underwhelming response to the fulfillment of this birth announcment when it finally happened, I would have to say most had given up on the dreams and the “what ifs” — most, but not all.  When the time comes for this promised son to be born, the young lady chosen by God to give birth to the “Everlasting Father” responds to her task in Luke 1:38; “I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be to me according to your word.”  Mary got it.  The “what ifs” that had been asked for generations were more than just possibility, they were coming to reality and she was going to be part of it.

When I read the “advance” birth announcment in Isaiah chapter 9 and then see the “actual” birth announcement recorded for us in Matthew and Luke, I am amazed at a God who understands and is concerned with both the “big picture” and the “details”.  I begin to grasp, along with Mary, the reality of this baby being born whose life was not beginning with that birth — but who is the Everlasting Father.  I start to understand that because of the eternal nature of God, life for Jesus did not begin with His birth and did not end with His death on the cross.  He was everlasting prior to His life on earth, during His life on earth, and after His life on earth.

May you and I live in great hope, knowing that this “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” has come so that the people — you and I — “walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” 

I pray that you and I live in the light of an Everlasting Father and Mighty God.