Travail - The Fruit of Relationship

“And Adam knew Eve his wife;
and she conceived…”
Genesis 4:1

Travail is the fruit of conception. While many may know the teachings and scriptures of God’s Word, the travail of the mystery is lacking. Conception is the fruit of relationship; deep, intimate relationship. It is a sharing that goes beyond the casual, beyond the confines of religious prayer meetings and Sunday services.

Intimacy With God

It is an affair of the heart, an intimacy between the Bride and the Bridegroom. While a man may have many friends and acquaintances, there is something far more profound in the relationship with his wife.

From that intimacy comes conception, travail, and the birth of something new. There is the wonder of a new creation, a separate being that is the expression of the love shared. This natural expression is simply the revelation of something deeper, purer, and holier in God’s wisdom (Ephesians 5:31-32) concerning His purposes on earth.

“And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary:
for thou hast found favour with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.”
Luke 1:30-31

This is the purpose for all who have received Him into their lives; the bringing forth of the Son in all of His Glory, humility, grace, and wisdom. Just as a woman cannot conceive of her own will, so it is in the Spirit. Conception is the fruit and wonder of relationship. It is not of the work of men but the result of an intimate interaction with God in the Spirit.

Those who do not know the stirring and moving of God deep within their hearts will never experience the travail of His Spirit. Many are content with the forms and appearances of religion; there is something deep at work within those who have experienced the wonder of “another life” growing within.

Mary’s flesh was the means of God’s very incarnation. In the wisdom and glory of God, by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, “…the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us”. That same transaction between God and man has continued for centuries in those who yield to the Holy Spirit.

The expression of Christ in an individual will be in proportion to the depth of their relationship with God. It is the soil that determines the fruitfulness of the sower’s seed. What men do with the talents and the pounds given determines the fruit of each life. The interaction between every believer and God is not determined by what one knows but by how one loves and obeys Him.

The eternal issue with God is not what we have been given; it is what we do with what has been given.

“But as many as received him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name”
John 1:12

The power to become sons is based on receiving Him and our compliance with His Will. The human egg within a woman must receive life from the man for conception to occur. This is the Holy Truth of His Life within us. May God open our eyes to the miracle and wonder of His birth within us. It is “not by might, nor by power but by His Spirit” that these things are true.

The validity of a believer’s surrender is revealed in the changes wrought by that Life living within. Religious conformity will never accomplish the revolutionary power of change; it comes only by our submission to His life within.

“And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”
Romans 12:2

Religion is about conforming to the teachings of men, an ideology, or a prescribed mode of behaviour. Living truth brings a transformation whereby we are changed from the fallen Adam into the “express image” of God Himself. It requires an “unveiled face” (“open” in KJV), a willing heart and the rigours of discipleship.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another...”
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

When we were expecting our first child many years ago, while in prayer one evening, the Lord spoke to me an amazing, transforming thought: the reason for the incredible changes in my wife was that another life was growing within her. Change and transformation are the fruit of those who carry within themselves the Life and the Person of Jesus Christ.