But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1
Something that they sort of leave out of the greeting cards, showers, and even much of the reading us pregnant women receive and experience is how we deal with fear and anxiety as we look towards this great unknown – parenthood.
I’ve talked before in a sermon about some of my own anxiety in pregnancy, and how difficult it is not to worry – especially when dealing with a pregnancy that is considered high risk. I have had doctors who have accidentally terrified me with lists of risks and outcomes, and in all honesty as I was meditating on next week’s Lenten service, inviting our speaker to share her story of God in the midst of fear and turmoil, I have been thinking about this fear a lot.
Because the truth is, once I started talking to other soon-to-be or new moms, I found that this fear is not at all uncommon. Many of us just don’t know how to talk about it, we don’t know how to admit that we spent way too long sitting on Web MD or Googling any new symptom we might find, and we begin to find ourselves facing inward.
And this is something that happens regardless of if your pregnant. When we find ourselves facing something scary, anxiety-inducing, or unknown, we often try to find answers ourselves, and we try to deal with things on our own.
But we’re not on our own. We have a God who tells us that we do not need to fear, because God is the one who created us, and is with us in whatever new fear we might be Googling. And since we’re not on our own, since God has called us and has named us God’s own, it means that we can be there for one another – rather than hiding on our computers or in our own fears, we can be listening ears for others experiencing similar fears, we can share, we can remember that we are not alone.
And thank God for that!
