The Cost | The Children You Were Born To Raise. What Happened? | Day 2

Childbirth hurts. It wasn't supposed to, but one choice in a garden changed that for every generation that came after. Pain was never part of the original plan. So what happened?

God, thank You for this day. Thank You for every woman who has carried pain to bring forth life. Help us never to treat that pain as normal or small. We give You our offspring again today, Lord. We give You our families. Save, deliver, restore, renew, in Jesus' name, amen.

When the first man and woman disobeyed God, the fallout didn’t stop with them. Part of the consequence landed directly on childbirth. What should’ve been pure joy now came with real pain.

We see it play out in 1 Samuel 4. Phinehas was one of the sons of Eli, the judge of Israel at the time. He was a priest. His wife went into labor the second she heard the worst news of her life — her husband was dead, the Ark of God was captured. Scripture says "her pains came upon her" (1 Samuel 4:19). She died giving birth, naming her son "Ichabod" — meaning "the glory has departed". It’s one of the heaviest births in the whole Bible.

Here’s the point: the pain wasn’t God punishing women alone. It was the cost of a choice two people made together. And even in the middle of that pain, life still came. Sin added the sorrow. Sin is why the pain got added; it was never part of God's original plan.

However, it didn’t get the final word.

As it stands, we know the pain doesn't stop once the baby is born — it just changes shape. It shows up later as sleepless worry, financial strain, watching a child struggle, or carrying a grown child who still depends on you.

It's still part of the cost — and still not the final word.

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