In Luke 1 we read about two miraculous pregnancies and how the women involved (Elizabeth and Mary) responded. Mary visits her relative Elizabeth after being told by an angel that she will conceive a baby by the Holy Spirit and that her relative ‘who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.’ (Luke 1:36) When Mary arrives, the baby ‘leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.’ (Luke 1:41) Science has demonstrated to us that babies in the womb can hear and respond to voices, but it seems there was a spiritual connection at this point, with Elizabeth’s baby recognising the miracle of the unborn Messiah even from Mary’s voice!
Sarah Davey, in her book ‘Women who met Jesus’, talks about this as a ‘kick.’ Pregnant women down the ages wait to feel the signs of life growing within, the fluttering, the movements, the kicks that are our only signs of life. Nowadays, scans and tests for heartbeats are a routine part of antenatal care, and we are in a privileged position to realise much more of what happens in the gestational period. Still, though, the baby’s movements within are a positive sign that all is going well.
Human gestation takes approximately 40 weeks (9 months), which can feel a very long time! This period for animals varies greatly. A dog’s pregnancy is 64 days on average (about 3 months.) An alpaca’s pregnancy lasts 345 days, almost a year. An African elephant’s pregnancy lasts 655 days, nearly 22 months (almost two years!)
Pregnancy is a time of waiting. The physical changes it brings are visible, but until we hold that baby in our arms, our dreams and hopes are just that: dreams and hopes. It takes birth to have our dreams and hopes fulfilled.
In the spiritual realm, God breathes life into us, giving us dreams, ideas, visions, plans. Faith is ignited within us rather like the meeting of the ovum and the sperm which results in conception. Our spirit and God’s Spirit meet, and we are filled with hope.
But thern comes the gestational period, and this varies. There is no set time between God speaking and fulfilling His promise. Even a cursory reading of the Bible confirms that! Abraham is promised a son and heir, but has to wait 25 years before he holds Isaac in his arms. Joseph is given a vision of greatness at 17, but must face years of desperation before the dream comes to pass. David is anointed king over Israel as a young man, but has many wilderness years to face before he is crowned. Even Jesus did not start His earthly ministry until the age of thirty, despite the miraculous nature of His conception.
Sarah asks, ‘Do you need a “kick”?! A kick to remind you of God’s promises to you? It may be that once upon a time, someone gave a prophetic word to you and you absolutely knew it was from God. Yet time has gone on and nothing seems to have happened, and even though the word is firmly planted in you, there is no evidence of its fulfilment. You can’t even feel the “baby” kick.’
The waiting period, the gestational period, between conception and birth, can be long, but those ‘kicks’ are encouragements to us to keep going. Some promises need more ‘knitting together’ than others. ‘When they are ready to face the world, they will tell you! They will get into position and the flood waters will break!’ (Sarah Davey, ‘Women who met Jesus’)
God’s plans will not be thwarted. You may be giving birth to an elephant of an idea! Hold on and wait for the kick!