“The baby’s teething.” One of the scariest sentences for any parent in that first year. Some babies handle it well. Others… Well, that’s when it gets rough on everyone in the house.
My son did not enjoy his first teeth. At. All. And that’s putting it mildly. He’s normally a very happy and content little guy, but once those chompers started pushing through, it was game over. He was miserable. Day and night.
So this momma, who had just returned to work, began her new nightshift position in the nursery. Baby boy would wake up screaming and no matter what I tried, it didn’t quite calm him down enough for him to actually fall back to sleep. I tried rocking, bouncing, nursing and singing but none of it helped. He would calm down for a few moments and then suddenly remember he was miserable. As if he was worried that I had forgotten, he reminded me with the loudest cry humanly possible for such a small pair of lungs.
Finally, myself nearly in tears, I looked down at my son and said, “I know this is hard right now. It really hurts. But it’s just something you have to go through. It will get better, I promise.”
My little guy was not trying to be dramatic. His tooth pushing through was probably the worst pain he could remember in his entire life. For some reason, telling him that I understood his pain and that his pain was not going to last forever made sense to him. Or he was just past the point of exhaustion (like his momma), he finally relaxed and fell asleep.
How comforting it is to know that God our parent knows not only our pain, but that it is temporary! How does he know? Because he can see beyond this moment in time. He knows that painful experiences will occur, but there is a purpose for it.
Baby boy would not thank me in the long term if I prevented his teeth from coming in. It would have removed his immediate pain, that’s true. But how would he bite into a cheeseburger or cookie (his all-time favorite) without those teeth? The pain, though overwhelming at the time, had a purpose.
In the end, God can use even the most miserable times to bring about something good.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us… And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:18 & 28