The process of birth is an amazing progression from the light cramping of Braxton-Hicks contractions to the real thing. Before we’re finished, we’ve gone from something that could be called a mild discomfort to a roaring deluge of pain so intense and focused that it drowns out every other consideration of life.

At some point in the labor process, a lot of mothers wish they could back out of the whole idea of having a baby and return to life as it once was. But knowing that just isn’t possible helps us to finally accept what’s happening and motivates us to do all we can to cooperate with the birth. We know we aren’t going to escape seeing it through to completion, so the wisest course of action is to find comfort in the fact that something monumental is happening and I’m a part of it!

When I was going through labor I remember thinking “This is awful… will it ever end?” one moment and then – just a short time later – gazing with wonder on the beautiful child cooing in a basket across the room. Joy replaces pain. Jesus understood this. He told His disciples: “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world” (John 16:21).

Right now, as I write this, the earth is going through its own birth pangs. Most of the time we aren’t aware of them since they don’t last too long and they gradually fade away. Because they are so far apart in occurrence, we tend to forget them in short order. They’re like Braxton-Hicks contractions. But as each successive decade rolls by, we can expect at some point that true labor will begin. And once it does, there will be no returning to life as we’ve always known it. Nothing will be able to turn back the unrelenting succession of events that will eventually produce the return of Jesus Christ to earth.

For Christians, His return will bring us great joy. But we will find ourselves suffering along with the rest of the world during the labor process, the ever-increasing birth pangs. So we might as well decide right now how we will respond when the intensity of pain and sorrow increases and we begin to experience the roller coaster of emotions that will inevitably come as we see the world as we know it shaken to its core.

Old Testament prophets called this momentous event “the day of the Lord” and described it as both “great” and “terrible.” Kind of sounds like how we’d describe our experience of giving birth, doesn’t it? It’s great in its result, but terrible in its process. Isaiah says it will be a time when “men will be brought low and mankind humbled.” He advises the earth’s inhabitants: “Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty! The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day … when he rises to shake the earth” (2:9-11, 21).

In chapter 3 of 2^nd Peter, the apostle describes the day of the Lord in detail. He says one characteristic of the last days will be “scoffers” who make fun of the whole idea of God’s judgment upon a sinful world. (Have you noticed the proliferation of books like Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion in the last few years? Atheists are becoming increasingly brazen in their attempt to wipe out every witness of Christ in our society.)

Jesus also gave a detailed description of how things will look just before His return. He said spiritual frauds will arise to deceive many. There will be wars and rumors of wars, and famines and earthquakes in various places. He called these signs “the beginning of birth pains” (Matthew 24:5-8). Then, as the birth pangs intensify, “you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (v. 9-13, emphasis added).

In the middle of these intense birth pangs we may wish we could turn the clock back, but there will be no stopping the “delivery” of Jesus Christ into human history for a second time. So our role as His church is to remind ourselves, something monumental is happening and I’m a part of it! We are His train, the jewels in His crown, when He comes to establish His kingdom over the whole earth. In the midst of all the turmoil we aren’t victims or helpless bystanders … we are in Him and He will be victorious over the enemy! That’s why Jesus tells us: “Make up your mind not to worry beforehand … By standing firm you will gain life” (Luke 21:14, 19).

Another characteristic of that time will be complacency. Jesus compared it to the days of Noah. “They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away” (Matthew 24:39). In the same way a woman is never really ready for the severity and intensity of true labor, people living at that time will be unaware of how quickly their lives will turn. The mild discomforts of world events will suddenly turn into cataclysmic changes they won’t be able to control, change or escape from. If they aren’t “on the ark” – in relationship with Jesus Christ, the only Savior – they will be swept away in judgment.

Paul wrote to the believers in Thessalonica: “You know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3). But unlike the rest of the world, Christians are “not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light. … So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled … putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 4-9).

We don’t know what the New Year will bring. As the birth pangs grow in intensity we can expect to see even more turmoil in world financial markets, more violence and hatred between people groups, an erosion of moral values and increase in wickedness, alarming climactic changes and natural disasters, and eventually a rise to power of someone who will seem to have all the answers to the world’s problems (the Antichrist).

There will also be more persecution for those who don’t agree with the world’s views about human rights and spiritual diversity. As we see darkness increasing in alarming ways, we’re sure to sense new anxieties arising in our hearts. That’s when we must stop and remember Jesus’ words to us: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

 At the conclusion of this tumultuous labor period we can look forward to the joy that replaces all the pain. We will be with Him in all His splendor and glory! Everything will be made new as we – and all of nature – escape from every effect of the dominion of darkness. As Paul writes in Romans 8, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (v. 18-19). Through the triumph of Jesus Christ, everything will be made new, and we can look forward to “a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

While there is still time, let’s give ourselves to the awesome privilege of warning others of what is coming, so they can share in our joy when Jesus returns. God in His faithfulness will offer His salvation to the whole world before judgment falls: “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). This is why the church will be vital in the last days. We may have to withstand some pain and sorrow during the birth pangs, but His promise is that the joy to follow will be worth it all.

I can only think of one song that captures the excitement and vindication we will feel as we see Jesus Christ claim the kingdoms of this earth as His own. As you read the closing lyrics below, let yourself go and shout Hallelujah as you realize that the great and terrible day of the Lord simply means something monumental is happening and I’m a part of it!