The miracle of birth

In our family we have recently paused at the miracle of birth, when the first member of the fourth generation saw the light of day early in the morning. As if by guidance, I happened just yesterday to read something in a book that was very interesting in relation to this:

And do you know what the ductus arteriosus is? It is a bypass vessel that directs blood straight to the developing fetus’s extremities and not to the lungs. At the moment of birth, all the blood must suddenly flow through the lungs so that the child who has begun to breathe may receive oxygen. In a fraction of a second a flap descends like a curtain, stopping the flow of blood, and a muscle closes the bypass vessel. Having fulfilled its only task, this muscle gradually dissolves away. Without this fraction-of-a-second miracle of adaptation, the child could not survive outside the womb. – Philip Yancey & Paul Brand in Fearfully and Wonderfully Made –

At the same time as, on the basis of what is written above, it is impossible not to believe in a Creator who governs every birth, it is striking to notice the words “having fulfilled its only task.” The success and worth of our own task, too, is not measured by its length, but by whether we do what is expected of us — when it is expected of us.

John the Baptist and Jesus serve as examples. John fulfilled his task as the one who went before Jesus, and when people noticed that the crowds had moved from his gatherings to hear Jesus speak, John said: “A man can receive nothing, except it have been given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.” Jesus for his part fulfilled his task at Golgotha and saved the whole world.

Sometimes our task and calling look so small and insignificant that we ourselves barely notice them. Still less that other people would notice. But the heaven of God notices, and calls us to live out that for which we were born. What people may regard as quite slight can, in the kingdom of God, join together things of great significance.