What Labor Has Taught Me About Waiting

Being a doula has made so many spiritual truths tangible to me.

Like, what does it mean to really wait?

We’re all waiting. No matter what season of life you’re in, there’s something you’re waiting for right now.

Labor is a lot like waiting. There’s something being knit together in hiddenness, beyond what we can see. Interestingly, our bodies are best supported to birth a baby when we stop pulling away from the pain, but instead breathe and rest into it. As doulas, we teach moms that they can do this because what they’re feeling isn’t bad. Nothing’s wrong. The intensity is actually good and allows our bodies to receive the fullness of what we’ve been waiting for.

The same goes for waiting on and with God. Like labor, it’s not a passive process. But when we know God is good and He loves us, we can remember that the intensity and pain of process doesn’t mean something is wrong. We can surrender.

Surrendering doesn’t mean forgetting. It doesn’t mean forgetting His promises or your desires. It’s doesn’t even mean forgetting your pain. It’s choosing to not withhold any part of our hearts and “yes” from God even though.

Waiting on Him is not like the waiting room at the doctor’s. It’s not wasted time until the dream happens. It’s a place to worship God with tears and trust, to intertwine ourselves to Him in the difficulty, and believe that the wilderness we are in now we will someday leave leaning on our Beloved.

This is part of why I do this work. As a doula, I get to sit with women in the waiting - in the intensity, the unknown, the moments where surrender feels hard. I get to remind them to breathe and trust the process unfolding.

Whether you’re waiting for your baby or something else entirely, you don’t have to do it alone. Let yourself feel it all with Jesus. Don’t shy away from the feelings that seem uncomfortable - the weakness and tension. Don’t try to measure up to expectations of how you think you “should” be handling the waiting. Be honest with God and let Him be near to your brokenness.

God wants to have your whole heart, not just your “yes”.