The Hard Thank You's

At the end of 2011 I longed to name the year 2012, Eucharisteo - a year of deliberately giving thanks to the Lord.  Little did I know, God wants to unveil to me one of His character traits I didn’t quite understand and He sparked in me the desire to give thanks, not just a mere ‘new year’s resolution’. 

It is Satan’s ultimate goal to make me believe God is not good. Since the time of Eve in the Garden it was his gaol to deceive us humans. From as early as my childhood he would make me doubt God’s love, through the lie of focusing on feelings of rejection, disappointment, failure, periods of fear and anxiety. In the process these feelings weakened my trust in my Loving Father, to work all things for my good.  

I recently started reading Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts.  I was not at all expecting God to address my lack of trust. God at first only introduced to me the habit of giving thanks. After reading the first chapter or two, I didn’t read for a few weeks, and just tried to establish the habit of giving thanks on an ongoing basis. Making giving thanks a habit is not just ‘slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life.  That leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life’ (Ann Voskamp). A habit of thanksgiving includes to name the things I’m thankful for.  I really struggled to make it a habit.  I first had to recognize my habit of complaining, discontentment, feeling empty, asking for more. After identifying this bad habit, I deeply desired to change.  But, I couldn’t merely decide to stop the bad habit and start the new thanksgiving habit. I had to drive out the bad habit, and in the same time fill the empty space with the new habit. This was a challenge, but I believed, I could. It is fairly easy to give thanks when life is running relatively smooth.  A few up and downs here and there, some things not quite as you planned, but still there are so much to be thankful for.

While I was working on my habit of giving thanks , I made progress in reading more in One Thousand Gifts.  To my surprise I discovered giving thanks in everything, feeds trust. Count blessings and discover Who can be counted on… (Ann Voskamp). What an interesting, new idea!  The more I read and succeed in the new habit of giving thanks, the more it fed my trust in God.

I was even more convinced by reading Phil 4:6, with ‘new eyes’. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Giving thanks, trusting God and make your requests known to God all in the same sentences. 

But what about giving thanks in a world of certain loss? Those times when it feels like life itself is giving away underneath us.  Times when dreams are crushed down, when we have no control. When pain, disappointment, uncertainty and fear is everywhere. Trusting God’s goodness, having faith, thanking God during these times is a tough call! In my perception a person would need a very special gift to even consider giving thanks. But every time when Jesus performed a miracle He first gave thanks.  Most of all He gave thanks hours before He gave His life as a ransom for us, performing the miracle of winning back eternal life for sinful human beings. And I’m back where I was when I named the year 2012 Eucharisteo - longing for more miracles in my life, giving thanks in everything, including the impossible - giving thanks in difficult situations.  

Most of all I was thankful that I wasn’t in a particular challenging season in my life.  Life was good.

But life can change in the blink of an eye...

Two weeks ago I experienced symptoms/signs that reminded me of my miscarriage in March last year. Life caved in on me - not again! Please Lord, not again, I cannot do this! By Wednesday noon I was laying, waiting for an ultrasound scan... and the monitor was silent... no heartbeat for my tiny, tiny baby. Baby was developed to about 8 weeks, although I was 11 weeks pregnant.  

In the next 24 hours, fear was creeping in on me, it was all over me.  Fear for living life!  Fear for the unknown of the next few days. Fear for my own health. Fear of not being able to stay strong for my children. Fear for losing the joy of my family.  Fear for my oldest daughter who was devastated by the news. Fear for how this news will influence my dear husband who was already carrying a heavy load. Fear for what this year of 2012 has still in store for me.

Doubt of God’s goodness was a natural reaction.  But due to the habit that was now almost established in my daily life, I was desperately looking for thank you’s, thank you’s that would precede the miracle. And the miracle did follow! I experienced my God as I never have before.  God was everywhere. Never before did I see His fingerprints over my daily life as during that week. I couldn’t help but give thanks for how He was guiding me through heart breaking pain. 

I was giving thanks in the heart breaking situation. Writing them down, one painful memory after the other - giving thanks. These Thank You’s are so personal, but I have to write them here, declaring victory over the Enemy of my soul, reminding me: God is good, all the time.

#37 Thankful for running into our trusted doctor friend on Monday night, as Christo and I walked to the car after our date night.  On Wednesday he would write my ‘referring letter for the ultrasound

#38 Thankful for a dear friend who delivered a message from God, of love, grace and encouragement the morning my dream was crashed down, without her knowing what was happening in my live

#39 Thankful for the network of Godly women who is currently intimately walking with me the Hello Mornings challenge. So much love, encouragement, prayer for us as a family.

#40 Thankful for the friendly personnel at the Radiologist’s, who fit me into their very busy schedule, even before my Dr’s letter came through the fax machine

#41  Thankful for a sonar picture of my baby

#42 Thankful for my understanding, caring, loving husband who stays strong for me, while he carries his own share of problems, worries and his own dreams for this baby crashed down, constantly pointing me back to my faith in the Lord

#43 Thankful for my strong oldest son with the gentle spirit who took me to the ultrasound, held my hand all the way and showered me with love and care in a very dark hour

#44 Thankful for what ever the Lord is teaching my dearest oldest daughter in the safety of her parents home, through her deepest pain and disappointment in losing another sibling

#45 Thankful for people smiling on me in the supermarket a few days later, while shopping with my five little ones, calling me blessed, delivering me a personal love letter from God, reminding me I am blessed

#46 Thankful for the song God put in my heart minutes before we left for the sonar:

“Be strong and take courage

Do not fear or be dismayed

For the Lord will go before you

And His light will show the way

Be strong and take courage

Do not fear or be dismayed

For the one who lives within you

Will be strong in you today”

#47 Thankful for the same song the next morning, while I was crying my heart out before the Lord:

Why don' you give him all of your fears

Why don't you let him wipe all of your tears

He knows, He's been through pain before

And He knows all that you've been looking for

So,…

#48 Thankful for the most beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered by a dear, dear friend, reminding me of the beauty all around me

#49 Thankful for the most beautiful pictures I’ve taken of my tummy

#50 Thankful for the pictures dear Heidi-Mary took of the little ones gathered around my growing tummy, already loving and caring for their little baby brother or sister

#51 Thankful for all my children who are around me, every day of my life, but especially during these days, to comfort me, love me, remind me of the purpose of my life.

#52 Thankful for this season of bearing and raising children

#53 Thankful for the privilege to be part of giving life to another Eternal Human Being who is right now praising and glorifying our Lord in Heaven, alongside his/her 4 siblings

#54 Thankful for the hope of having eternity with these 5 precious children

#55 Thankful for God’s timing of my miscarriage, early morning, while Christo was still at home, to help me

#56 Thankful that I didn’t need to go into hospital.

And as I was giving thanks, I could breathe again, fear was pushing away from me, further and further away. Replaced by faith and trust in my loving Father. Peace and true thankfulness was all over me.   I could get out of bed, not afraid of what the day will hold.  I am not alone - God is all around me, knowing my pain even before I know, going before me, carrying me, holding me, caring for me, loving me with His deepest love.

Often we will only be able to see through our pain when we look back, in the rearview mirror, after driving long, long distances. Maybe sometimes about as far as heaven - and therefore I can only keep giving thanks, stop questioning my Father’s love. And in giving thanks, I feed trust. Trust that God’s love, God grace will never ends.

Much love

Linnie

He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

So we may boldly say:

"The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear.

Hebr. 13:5-6

This post is linked with:

Raising Homemakers

Women Living Well Wednesday

Encourage One Another

EXPECTations!

It is a new year, and as usual I’m a little overwhelmed by what is expected of me as Wife and Mother. Our family is in the middle of watching a teaching by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson (our #1 Teacher and Mentor) on the Testing of Your Faith.  This week’s teaching was on How to Pass the Test of Faith. You will never pass a test of faith only on determination! At one stage your knees will buckle and you will just be so tired and overwhelmed, the giants so big, the Enemy of your Soul will ensnare you with his lies and you will loose faith. 

Being the Helpmeet to my Husband God intends me to be, and full time Mother to my precious children, is a constant test of faith.  The job at hand is gigantic, more than what I will ever be able to accomplish by myself, even with determination, organizing and self discipline.  

I need FAITH! And I can only step out in faith today by looking at the past and what God has done for me, and claiming God’s promises for me in the future.  

Oh, God has proven Himself faithful over and over in the past. Over the past 12 years (that is only the time I’m homeschooling) there were many, many crazy years. Never, not once, did He not keep me from drowning or did He not make a way in the dessert. I need to remember and set my one foot solidly on those memories.

The next is claiming God’s promises for me, my family, the Saints. When I know what He is planning for me, when my other foot is solidly placed on the hope set before me, I will not stumble.  Only then will I be able to face the giants set before me for 2012, and still rejoice and celebrate life with my family!  Seizing the time and seeing God’s love and faithfulness in the little things.

I just want to share one such a recent Testing of my Faith with you.

As many of you know, in January 2011 we discovered I was pregnant with Baby #9 and we were overjoyed. The whole family was looking forward in anticipation to the new addition to our family. Sadly, at 12 weeks we couldn’t find a heartbeat and three days later I naturally miscarried our tiny baby.  This was our 4th miscarriage, but the first after 7 healthy pregnancies and naturally delivered children and such an unexpected shock to our family.   It took me months to emotionally recover from the loss and I still mourn the loss of my baby in this world, but do know I can look forward to spend eternity to get to know my child I haven’t known on earth.  

As the months passed after my miscarriage and I didn’t fall pregnant again, I had to work through the realization that I’m probably entering a new season with my biological clock and would not hold another tiny baby of my own in my arms ever again.  That was another loss in itself, I had to work through.  Needless to say I spent hours of questioning and crying out to the Lord in 2011.  Many dear friends gave birth exactly the same time I was due, and that didn’t make it easier.  But the Lord had to work a good work in me, and it was all to my growth and maturity, though not the easy road. 

By the 3rd of October, the day after my due date, I was hopelessly in pain, when I realized I wasn’t pregnant before Baby was due.  With my previous three miscarriage I was always pregnant before my babies’ due dates.  

It was a Monday morning and we were in the early stages for our Testing of your Faith Teaching.  Christo and I did Testing of your Faith thirteen years ago for the first time, in a very challenging season of our life, and it had a huge impact then.  

As I was listening to the teaching on that early morning in October, I realized that I was in a huge test of faith.  For the following month I desperately leaned on the Lord, remembering His faithfulness in the past. (Please note, this is not how I would write the history of my life.) And claiming His promises to me, again not necessarily the happy ending of another baby, just the promises that He will never leave me, nor forsake me, never give me more than I can handle, working everything for good. Gradually I could feel my faith be strengthened through His faithfulness and His promises and by middle September I could hold a dear friends’ new born baby and know it is well with my soul. 

I will always long for my tiny baby, but I could move on, trusting my loving Father that He works everything for good.

Then by the first week of December there were two pink lines on a pregnancy test… Yes, I’m pregnant again, now 10 weeks and rejoicing, trusting, leaning heavily on the faithfulness of my loving Father!  Do my faith want to run out some days? Yes, with a little help of the Enemy of our souls and my human hormonal vulnerability, I’m bound to loose faith every now and then.  BUT God instructed us not to live by feelings, but by Faith!  

By having one hand on God’s faithfulness in the past and the other hand on His promises to me for the future, He guarantees I will stand solidly in the here and now - Passing the Test of Faith!

Will you please pray with me for the life of this tiny baby. That God will protect him/her in the secret place, weave him/her together in perfection and in due time send him/her forth to be born, to grow up and change the world for God’s Glory.

It is my prayer that you will look back in your past, remember God’s Faithfulness, then reach into God’s Word for His promises, claim them and step out in faith, conquering all the giants that might come your way in 2012, without fear!!

With much love

Linnie

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

2 Tim. 1:7

This post is linked with:

Raising Homemakers

Women Living Well Wednesday

Encourage One Another

Satan’s Biggest Threat!

People still don’t understand why we choose, to gave our family planning over to God!  

I thought by now, pregnant with #9 it wouldn’t be an issue or a puzzle anymore, but quite the contrary.  From different sides I’m hearing the objections and ridicule of people, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ.

As I was sitting next to my 2 and 4year old, to put them to sleep for their afternoon nap. I looked at their sweet faces, and the question came to mind: Why would anyone not want such a sweet little one?  All mothers love and adore their children, they cannot imagine a life without their precious children, yet they don’t want more.

And that is fine with me! Living in the 21st Century, every woman have rights and she can choose and control her own walk of life. But that is not where it ends! People seem to find it impossible to stop criticizing families who choose to have more than the average amount of children!   

God implanted motherhood into each woman and we just cannot ignore it!  Wanting to nurture something, a baby or even a pet if it can’t be a baby, is natural to every single woman on the face of the earth. 

A few days ago while I visited with friends in a coffee shop, the sound of an almost newborn baby’s cry made everyone stop midway in their conversations to see where the precious little voice was coming from! As all eyes laid hold of the tiny baby in her mother’s arms, every single woman’s face glowed with a softness, in adoration for the mother and her baby!

The same day, a few hours later, I was in a queue at a local store with my five well behaved little ones (7years and under).  Everyone was intrigued by their behavior, until one lady couldn’t resist the question any longer and asked me if all five were my children.  On my ‘Yes’, everyone was listening. Even more, when she asked if I was ‘finished’ now. When I mentioned my 10 week pregnancy, the whole atmosphere changed before my eyes!  It was almost like a demonic manifestation and I was the centre of attack!  One after the other derogatory comment was thrown in my direction and the eyes which was filled with approval only seconds ago, glared down on me with disapproval and disgust! 

What made this happen?  

Why on earth, would people react in anger and antagonism towards a total stranger in the local store, who mentioned she is expecting her 9th baby?  Would they react with such criticism if I had my shopping chart filled with ten to twenty pounds of butter, asking me if I knew how dangerous it was for my health?  Would they also have given me disapproving glances if I wore a low cut t-shirt and high-cut shorts, asking me if I didn’t have something ‘more appropriate’ to wear?  Chances are that they wouldn’t even have noticed me and do not care about my cholesterol or my moral standard of fashion.

Why then do people react totally bizarre when they learn that a woman, whom they don’t know from a bar of soap, is pregnant with her 9th baby?  Why would anyone care how many children I want?  Why am I such an irritation to people (even more to Christians!), when I gratefully except another blessing from God?

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  (Eph 6:12)

God is the God of the kingdom of life! Satan is ruler of the kingdom of death and destruction! These two powers are constantly in opposition with each other, since the fall of humanity! 

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”  Gen 3:15

I have just realized again, I’m opposing the biggest lie of Satan.  It is against natural design to NOT allow God to determine your family size.  It is when you choose against the biological function of the womanhood God put into each woman, that you are acting opposite to the natural.  During the past 50 years Satan subtly (but effectively) imprinted the lie of family planning deep into humanity. Even the church fell for it. It is laughable to see and hear the shallow opposing arguments, criticism and open attack of Christians against fellow families in Christ, who allow God to determine their family size! 

Satan knows that the Godly seed brought forth by women, is his biggest threat in destroying his dark works of deception and destruction.  We read that Satan has already tried twice during Bible times to kill babies. In Egypt during Moses’ time, Satan killed babies using the Pharaoh, trying to avoid the birth of a Leader that would lead God’s nation to the promised land and again through Herod, Satan killed 1000s’ of babies trying to kill baby Jesus.

We all know we are living in the final hour, before the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, more than ever Satan is killing millions of babies, which should be the part of the End-Time-Army of God!  The sad part is that not only non-Christians, but Christians also, has bought into Satan’s lies to destroy the children again, this time though ‘family planning.’ 

Why would people react bizarre towards another pregnancy?

Because the family who allows God to determine their family size, is Satan’s biggest threat!

“To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”  II Cor 2:16

You decide.

Speaking the truth in love

Linnie

Announcement!

Just a short posting to announce:

"We are expecting Baby #9!"

My dear husband was still waiting for his wives' PMS, when I told him last night I bought a pregnancy test. He smiled and it was such a natural part of our life together - knowing this is why God made us one:  "Because He seeks godly offspring"

The children are so excited.  CJ, as well as Heidi-Mari were not surprised at all, they said they were expecting it, with big smiles!

Dear Andrew couldn't believe his ears, he got a shy smile and looked down to my tummy!

This afternoon David asked me how big the baby is, and I told him: "Still tiny, tiny small."  That was good enough for him and he kept on playing with his cars.

Little Danika is praying for a sister (like she's been doing with the last four pregnancies) and it seems like this time Josua is going to pray with her! How special!

I'm so blessed! As I was watching the second line on the pregnancy test appear, this morning, I felt like Mary, full of praises to the Lord!

God Almighty visited me again and put a new soul in my womb.

A soul that will live forever. A precious new life that will bring God glory and be part of God's army that will destroy the dark works of the enemy! 

Wow! Isn't that awesome! 

I want to sing with Mary:

“For He who is mighty had done great things for me, 

And holy is His Name.

And His mercy is on those who fear Him

From generation to generation.

Thank you Lord, I praise Your Name!"

With love

Linnie

Where Do Babies REALLY Come From?

Are children only a result of marriage or are there Someone who open and close the womb?

The past year I have had some interesting conversations with people who knows us well enough to know that we have 8 children. We are looking forward to have even more children since we want all the children the Lord wants to bless us with.  In general conversations about our babies, I would comment that I have come to love babies soooo much and don’t know what I will do when the Lord decides my time for having babies is over.  The other person, would then usually tell me that they will not have anymore babies.  I would often hear that she and her husband had prayed about it and now have peace that the Lord approved that she won’t have anymore babies, most of the time because  of some medical condition or financial or other circumstances.  She would either have had a tubal ligation or he had a vasectomy or they will practice some kind of contraception.

This is a very interesting concept to me. 

Most of the time the people I come into contact with are committed Christians.  People who earnestly seek the Lord’s will for their lives.  People who want to please the Lord and confess that they trust the Lord and know the Lord and has a personal relationship with Him..  How come the area of babies/children don’t fit into their picture of surrendering their lives to the Lord?  What is the motivation behind real committed Christians’ reasoning to believe stopping their own fertility or taking their fertility into their own hands fit into the Lord’s will for their lives?

Another interesting point is:  If it is God’s will for them to not have children anymore, why do they need the tubal ligation, vasectomy or whatever contraception?  If it is  His will, then surely He will not allow pregnancy and they would be ‘safe’ from having more children. Does He really need their intervention? 

What lie makes them believe their God isn’t bigger than their medical condition or financial circumstances?

Is it possible that we are hesitant to trust the Lord with our fertility, since we have a wrong believe system about: Where does babies REALLY come from? The wrong believe that babies is only a result of a s*xual act and that God has actually nothing to do with falling pregnant.  Do they believe that choosing to have no more children and being conformed to the world in this area of their lives, actually doesn’t matter to God so much, since He is not involved?  

Baby CJ

In the Full Quiver, Rick and Jan Hess addresses this issue in answering the question, Where Do Babies Come From?  

(Please note:  The accent of this excerpt  is not on infertility and therefore why do some couples experience infertility, but on contraception and the roll of a couple in contraception.)

There are two ways to answer the question - Where Do Babies Come From?  A proponent of what we will call “philosophy A” would say that babies are simply a product of a random meeting of sperm and egg.  Those who hold to this also teach that parents are the only thinking, responsible agent behind the conception process.  If this is true, it follows that we are the only ones who can and therefore should or must exercise control in conception.   

Therefore we have the right to decide we will stop this process of getting pregnant.

Now it’s time to meet “philosophy B”.  This concept is different.  Really different. So different, in fact, that those in the philosophy A camp cannot fathom why philosophy B people believe what they do - except for one thing - they know it has something to do with the Bible and God.

But what is in the Bible that runs contrary to the random probability theory held so much of our society?  Maybe you yourself believe that your own existence began solely at a change uniting of a couple of cells.  Then please read on... Let look at some important Biblical passages that talks about conception:

Old Testament Examples:

Eve:

We begin our study of beginnings near the beginning of the book of beginnings - Genesis, chapter four. Verse one provides the perfect starting point, as it records the first birth of a human being.  Lets see how new mom Eve answers the question, “Where do babies come from?”  When Cain is born she testifies, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.”

Baby Heidi-Mari

Eve, who had enjoyed a first-person relationship with God, speaks not as a lettered theologian but as a practicing mother.  She fully realizes that God has been necessary for the birth of her son and that Cain’s arrival did not happen without His intervention.

Hagar:

In Genesis 16 we find the angel of the Lord counseling Hagar, Abraham’s exiled servant-wife.  In verse 10 it reads:  “more-over, the angel of the Lord said to her, ‘I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they shall be too many to count.’ ”

The angel of the Lord, speaking for God, said a very interesting thing.  What he did NOT say is even more interesting.  He did not tell Hagar, “You will have so many descendants that they shall be too many to count.” He specifically said, “I will greatly multiply your descendants.”  God Himself was going to personally multiply these people.

Abraham:

In Genesis 17:20 God promises Abraham, “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

The wording is again significant.  God did NOT say, “You will multiply exceedingly’ but assumed total responsibility for creating Abraham’s descendants - “I will multiply you exceedingly.”

The next passage is in my opinion profound, since it address ‘the womb’, itself.

Abimelech:

Next stop is also in Genesis: chapter 20. We know well the story of an embarrassed Abraham having to tell king Abimelech that his step-sister was also his wife.  But have you ever dwelt on verse 17 and 18? They read, “And Abraham prayed to God; and God HEALED Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children.  For the Lord had closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.”

Here is a direct statement of God’s control in matters of conception.  The household of Abimelech was suddenly barren - we do know who was the cause and cure of it.

The following passages also dealt with conception:

Rachel and Leah:

Genesis 29:31 through Genesis 30:24 is one of the most amazing Scripture passages concerning God’s causal relationship to conception.  Rather than quote the whole passage, let’s examine it, using the framework of a multi-year football game.  The two teams are known by their start players, Leah and Rachel. 

During the First Quarter the Lord opens Leah’s womb four times. 

After dominating the opening quarter, Leah has no more children, so Rachel takes over on offense in the second quarter.  We must point out a very innovative aspect of this game - both teams have the same quarterback - Jacob! Most unusual.  Well, Rachel’s demand in the huddle is, “Give me children, or else I die.”  Rachel really want to get in the game.  She also thinks that on this team the quarterback calls the plays, but Jacob knows full well it is the Coach who does and responds to her, “Am I in place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

Now we see an unprecedented move: the first substitution.  Rachel benches herself and sends in Bilhah.  Also Leah sees the fruitfulness of substitution and sends in Zilpah for herself.

In the Third Quarter Leah is back and has three more children.

In the the Fourth and final Quarter Rachel has a real ‘winner’ in Joseph.  The final score is Leah 7, Rachel 2 (the second being Benjamin).

Let’s watch an instant replay of God’s part in the story of Rachel and Leah.  Please study carefully the following references (All from the book of Genesis):

• “He opened her womb.” (29:31)
• He has therefore given me this son also.” (29:33)
• Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children form you?” (30:2)
• “God has vindicated me... and has given me a son.” (30:6)
• “And God gave heed to Leah and she conceived.” (30:17)
• “And God gave heed to her and opened her womb.” (30:22)

These inspired examples show, without a doubt, God’s total control over the events of contraception and birth.  He “opened’ and He “withheld.”  

Baby Josua

But maybe the above examples was only for ‘then’. So let’s look further.

Moses:

The final quote from the Pentateuch comes from the well known blessing/cursing chapter, Deuteronomy 28.  In this passage God tells Israel just how good things will be if they will be obedient and just how horrible life will become if they are not.  Speaking through Moses, in the eleventh verse God says, “And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body.”

The important word of this verse are “the Lord will”.  Is it God who gives offspring?

Ruth:

Let us now look at the beautiful book of Ruth.  Ruth 4:13 clearly states, “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her.  And the Lord ENABLED her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

So Obed was born, not as a result of a chance fertilization at the proper time of some month, but because and only because God ‘enabled’ it.  By the way, do you think it is both biologically and theologically accurate for each of us to place our own name in the place of “Obed” in the above sentence?  But even more profound: This new son may have looked like any other little bundle of Jewish joy, but he was to be King David’s grandpa!  Who knows what great place in God’s plans a future little one, which He could give to you or us, might play?

Samuel:

The birth of Samuel is yet another illustration of the reality of who is the actual source of ALL people’s lives.  Our interest in the story begins at 1 Samuel 1:6, which says, “Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.”

God did not say that Hanna was barren because she had a tipped uterus, blocked Fallopian tubes, endometriosis or irregular periods. 

Although, trust me in this area, there would sure enough be a diagnoses for her barrenness. Because there is a diagnoses don’t exclude God from the picture!!

The Great Physician proclaims quite matter-of-factly His diagnoses of the cause of the barrenness. He had closed her womb; i.e., He was not giving conception.

But after a visit with Eli the outlook improves tremendously!  In 1 Samuel 1:19 we read, “And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.  And it came about in due time, after Hanna had conceived, that she gave birth to a son.”

What do we learn from this?  Simply that Elkanah and Hannah had Samuel because God Himself accomplished it, according to His will.  But we are not finished with the story!  

We know that Samuel was given to the Lord by Hanna, who had wanted a child so desperately.  We also know that God rewards His people for giving Him their most treasured possessions.  So what was God’s reward to Hannah for “returning” Samuel? 1 Samuel 2:20-21 tells us, “Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, ‘May the Lord give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the Lord.’ And they went to their own home.  And the Lord visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters.”

The text does not indicate Hannah’s response, but do you think she was disappointed?  Here we see a case in which God gave five children and thought it a reward!  Ask yourself, how would you feel if God rewarded you with five? A lot of work? Certainly.  A lot of blessing? We know it is - once you learn how to capitalize on it!

Baby Danika

Or would you rather use worldly methods and stop the possibility of having five?

David:

Some of you are sitting out there anticipating our next passage Psalm 139. There could not be a more amazing section of Scripture than this which chronicles so wonderfully the Divine beginning of each of our lives.  In verses 13 - 16 David says:

For Thou didst form my inward parts;

Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Thy works,

And my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from Thee,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.

Thine eyes have seem my unformed substance;

And in Thy book they were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.

Putting aside for the moment the question of whether babies-in-the-abstract come from God, think about where YOU in-the-concrete come from.  Psalm 139 tells you that you are not a statistical product, but were begun - ‘formed,’ ‘woven,’ ‘wrought’.  Even the number of days you are given on the earth from conception to decomposition has been specifically chosen by God.  None of us is an ‘accident’!

Psalm 100:

The teaching of the Old Testament may be summarized by saying that children are not simply the result of a s*xual intercourse and conception, but it denies that conception is inevitable, or that parents possess the power to make it happen.  In fact, Psalm 100:3 states the matter with crystal clarity: “It is He who had made us, and not we ourselves.”

Saying that we parents do not possess the ability to ensure conception is actually one of the understatements of all time!

All these Scriptural examples prove that God controls the process of fertilization; that you and I are NOT products of probability, but of His ability.  Gad has ordained the specific starting point of every life ever lived, including any future children He might give us or you. 

Baby Andrew

Yet, what about the New Testament? Was this only for the Old Testament?

Elizabeth:

Now it’s barren Elizabeth’s turn to be blessed.  In Luke 1:24-25 it is written, “And after these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant; and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, ‘This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days, when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.’ “

There was no question in Elizabeth’s mind as to who should get the credit for her great joy.  God had ‘looked with favor’ on her and created John.

Luke, A doctor’s diagnosis:

Dr. Luke submits the medical report for Elizabeth in Chapter 1 verse 58: “And her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.”

Luke, for all his medical training and experience, had a far more scientifically accurate concept of origins than most of today’s scientists and doctors, for he understood perfectly that Joh’s life was a direct result of God’s “display of great mercy toward her.”

Hebrews:

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews held to the same view.  In chapter 6 verse 14 he quotes Genesis 22:17 saying, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you.”  And in chapter 11 verse 11 he holds up Sarah’s faith in God as the Giver of children to encourage our faith: “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of live, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.”

It is a joyous fact that God opens and closes the womb! He alone decides when and if anyone will have any (more) children!  

Baby David

To come back to my opening statement regarding couples’ belief that choosing to have no more children and being conformed to the world in this area of their lives, actually doesn’t matter to God so much, since He is not involved in conception:  

According to the above evidence, God is very much involved!  To say the least, He has total control!

Baby Daniel

God is THE ONE who open and close the womb, with a purpose, in due time, to fulfill His Devine plan on this earth!

He is trustworthy with your medical condition, as well as your financial circumstances to surrender your womb!

Are you a Bible-Believing-Christian?

Who do you believe is in control of conception?  

Are children only the result of a  s*xual act and the probability of a sperm meeting an egg or does God open and close the womb?

You decide... and then act on it.

Baby Michael

This article does not address the issues surrounding infertility, rather the issue of interfering with your natural fertility. If you are struggling with the deep emotional and spiritual issues of infertility, you may already be intimately familiar with the roll God plays in conception and pregnancy. For reasons we may never understand in this life, God, in his unfailing wisdom, may have decided that you are not to have a baby of your own. Although this is very painful, I encourage you to look beyond the barrenness, into the loving eyes of Jesus, who is infinitely bigger than our biggest and deepest pain.

With love

Linnie