the baby and the kingdom

Hi friends

We are expecting our new baby any day now and are actually a few days overdue, needless to say
there is a fair bit of anticipation and waiting around. My wife has been prepared for weeks now and
bedrooms are ready, bags packed, provisions are bought and the husband is well briefed!
We have had some fun watching the baby move and kick and less fun feeling backpain and
many trips to the loo... ( My wife anyway)
In all this im thinking; this is just like what Jesus said about the kingdom of heaven. Let me explain.
There was a moment when that baby was conceived, life began at a definite point and started a chain of events. When we give our lives to Jesus we begin a new life. But although we know we have begun, there might not be much to show for it!
Then there is a growing of life inside, about 9 months. We start at conception but we don't stay there, we grow, we expand, we develop senses and movement. It's beginning to show on the outside!
But it's not completely out yet, it's not on full show. Just like our life in the kingdom, it's growing, we are waiting, frustrated sometimes, a bit of back pain. It's even hard to sleep and rest because of this growing.
Everybody keeps asking when it's coming and the waiting gets harder and harder.
That's the kingdom in a nutshell, It's inside, growing but we are tired of waiting, of carrying it sometimes. We see signs but it's not fully out yet. We are frustrated and find it hard to rest.
But it's the way of the kingdom and the way of God. It's like Jesus stories on the Kingdom that he told. 1/3 were about the Kingdom NOW, 1/3 were about the PROCESS of the kingdom and 1/3 were about a SUDDEN APPEARANCE.
There WILL be a sudden appearance of baby Strajnic, nothing so sure. Just as there WILL be a sudden appearance of Jesus the King of Kings one day soon.
And in the meantime we grow, we labour in birth pains, we prepare our lives, we tell others, we pray and we see so many signs, feel so much movement and it's soooooo exciting, but also
a bit painful, a bit heavy and sometimes restless...
The Kingdom of God IS here, it IS growing and it WILL come, all at the same time.
The same as our baby, It IS here , it IS growing and it WILL come!

See you all soon with number 2, love and blessings
Andy

Andy Strajnic, 14/05/2011