When I was pregnant with our first son, I thought that baby would never be born! I was so late delivering him that I actually dreamed I was an old woman — gray hair and all — still pregnant, panicking in my doctor’s office, begging him to do something!

Weird dream, I know. The point is, near the end of a pregnancy, a mama feels worn out. It’s easy to feel like the whole thing is lasting just a little too long, and that’s even when the baby comes on his due date!

Sixteen very long, swollen, puffy, unattractive, exhausting days after we expected our son Clayton to be born, the doctor used a steady stream of Pitocin to coax him out of the womb and into the world. I was so relieved!

Funny how those late arrivals seem to take their time and run late even when they’re teenagers. Too bad a Pitocin drip doesn’t work on them!

There is a reason a baby is supposed to stay in his mama’s womb for 40 weeks — he needs that time to grow, develop and be nourished. A baby born prematurely is at risk and a baby who is very late in arrival is at risk, too.

Time in the womb protects a child and prepares a child for life.

Sometimes we have hard situations in our lives that feel like my way-too-long pregnancy — like they will never come to an end. We often get discouraged and tired and beg God to do something — we just don’t know how long we can endure.

When we’re in the hard middle of an unending struggle and sorrow, God is carrying us and caring for us, like a mother is carrying and caring for her child in her womb.

We don’t often think of long-lasting trials like time in the safety of a womb — times in which God grows us, protects us and nurtures us. But, God can use those long-lasting situations as places where He cradles us in His compassion and care.

Every unending minute we suffer or struggle, God’s compassion is holding us. His compassion is like a mother’s womb that cradles and carries us.

Compassion in Hebrew is Rachamim, and that word Rachamim comes from the Hebrew root rechem, which literally means “womb.”

Womb. Compassion. So interesting, and beautiful, isn’t it?

Those long times of waiting and wishing and wondering are the times you are swaddled in God’s compassion. His compassion, like a womb, will grow you, nurture you, protect you and eventually deliver you to where He has planned for you.

God cares for you and about you every single second that He carries you through a tough situation. Even in the midst of your heartache or suffering, you are still cradled in His compassion. You are as cared for and protected as a baby in a mother’s womb.

You are not alone. You are cradled in His compassion.

God says, as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. Isaiah 66:13

He is with you as you struggle. He isn’t a distant spectator, He is a right-there-with-you participant.

No matter what you face, no matter how long it has lasted, God has got you. He has you wrapped in His compassion and sheltered in His care. Your situation will not last one second longer than He determines is best for you. Nor will He deliver you too early and leave you unequipped and unprepared for life. He will deliver you at the perfect time.

You can stop wondering and wishing and just rest in His compassion like a baby rests in his mother’s womb.

My friend, I know you can get tired and run out of hope when your cup of sorrow seems to have free refills. I know sorrow can wear you out and trials can run you down, but take just one minute right now and ask God to carry you. Ask Him to give you eyes to see His compassion holding you together and holding you up. Ask Him to help you relax into His care and rest there, like a baby in his mother’s womb.

Because of the Lord’s great love, you will not be consumed; His compassions never fail (Lamentations 3:22).

How have you experienced God’s compassion during your tough times?