Category: Fertility

God’s Got This

Posted on by Evangeline

If you like to be in control of things in your life like I do, you may sometimes experience frustration that life is not working out exactly as you had planned. When my husband and I decided to start having children, we thought pregnancy would happen according to our timeline that we had developed a few years earlier. It didn’t.

After numerous doctor visits, temperature charting, lab tests, tears, anger, and many times of asking God “why,” we finally decided that we’d put this issue of infertility in God’s hands. And He did not disappoint! The Bible says to cast all our cares (those things that distract us from believing in God’s willingness to help us) onto God. He wants us to choose to focus on the truth that He is not only able to move mightily on our behalf, but He is also willing to do the  impossible in our lives. He loves us so much and wants the “best” things we desire in our lives to line up with His “best” plan.

When we reach a point in life’s circumstances that we can truly say within our heart, “God’s got this,” we are positioning ourselves in the place of rest that He intended for us to be in all along. It’s in that place of rest, which is actually a place of great strength, that we see His best plan for us come to fruition. 

Looking to Jesus

Posted on by Evangeline

Someone once said, “Looking to your past gives you regrets. Looking to your future gives you opportunities.” I’d like to add to that—“Looking to Jesus helps you finish the race of life as a victor.” [Hebrews 12:1,2]

When we look to Jesus, it gives us hope for being rescued out of the situation of infertility and anything else that’s a struggle. After all, He’s the one that rescued Peter out of the breath-snatching waves of water. He rescued Paul from the grip of hatred and fear. He loosed Lazurus from the chains of death. He rescued sick people from various illnesses and fed thousands of hungry people with just a few loaves of bread (twice!).

Look to Jesus and be encouraged! Because of His obedience, death, and resurrection, we have access to blessings that the Father intended for us to have all along. Looking to Jesus is what we need to do to be reminded that He did everything necessary , on our behalf, for us to be rescued from bondage and brought into freedom. He finished and satisfied every requirement so that we are now qualified to claim and enjoy all the blessings that He has already given us, including overcoming infertility.  [Ephesians 1:3; Deuteronomy 7:14; Deuteronomy 28:4]

A Wholesome Tongue

Posted on by Evangeline

Have you noticed that I frequently mention that we should be mindful of the words we allow to come out of our mouth? That’s because what we say is a difference-maker in our personal world. Our words are powerful! They are vessels that contain and convey life or death. What we say is what we get and it’s our choice to determine what we speak into our lives.

 “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life…” ~~Proverbs 15:4

“Wholesome” is defined as “conducive to general well-being.” So the Bible is showing us that speaking positive, faith-filled words is conducive to our well-being. The opposite is also true: speaking words that are contaminated with negativity leads to unfavorable things.

Is your world tainted with uneasiness and frustration? I encourage you to be more aware of what you say.  Are your words sometimes full of fear, anxiety, and hopelessness? Choose to change them to words with a more positive “vibe”—words of peace, contentment, and hope. I’m sure you’ll see what a difference-maker a wholesome tongue can be!

Enlarge Your Territory!

Posted on by Evangeline

Do you tend to make preparations for upcoming events in your life? Isaiah 54:1-2 describes a time of preparation: “”Sing, O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not labored with child…enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.” Enlarging your territory is simply making preparation for the good things you expect to happen.

Have you reached a point of believing and not doubting in your heart, that God intends for you to have a child? Faith in what He declares in His Word gives you the confidence to act on it.   Find something that you can do as a means of preparing for the blessing of a child. Maybe you’ll want to begin now to adjust your budget for the expenses you’ll encounter once you have the baby. Or maybe you’ll decide to start taking pre-natal vitamins.

Whatever you choose to do to enlarge your territory, do it with a high expectation of the good things God will do your life. He enjoys seeing that you have confidence in His promises and loves blessing you with the desires of your heart!

I’m Just Sayin’

Posted on by Evangeline

I have learned, and am still learning, how important my words are. Not only do they let others know what I think, but also they are actually vessels filled with the power to change things in my life or to keep things the same.

Zig Ziglar, a world-renowned motivation speaker said, “You are what you are and where you are because of what has gone into your mind. You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind.”  Other than images, words are what go into your mind. God designed this universe to respond to words. He spoke words and things happened (Genesis 1). That’s why He sent the prophets of the Old Testament, to speak the words that He spoke about things so that those words would cause His plan to happen.

Throughout the book of Isaiah in the Bible, we see so many prophetic words about what was coming in the future through the Messiah. Those prophecies proclaim the things to come so that the words would set in motion those things that God included in His plan for man. All of those words were eventually fulfilled, accomplished, and completed through Jesus.

God has placed that same significance and power in our words. Our words are able to change our personal world when we speak what God says about our situation. The act of saying what God says (His promises), initiates, strengthens and builds our faith. Believing and speaking His promises instead of repeatedly speaking our problems can change our personal world.

So if God said it, I choose to believe it AND I choose to say it (2 Corinthians 4:13).

Renegade Thoughts

Posted on by Evangeline

Do you ever find yourself thinking renegade thoughts? You know, those thoughts that really don’t line up with what God has said about you as a believer in Jesus Christ. Sometimes thoughts can come to mind and bring you down, making you feel stuck in believing that your situation can never change. But be encouraged, what God has said is what comes to pass when we trust that what He has said is the unshakeable Truth [Isaiah 55:11].

God has said:

You’re forgiven. [Colossians 1:13-14]

You’re healed, by Jesus’ stripes. [1 Peter 2:24]

You’re loved by God just as much as He loves Jesus. [John 17:23]

You’re an heir to the blessing of Abraham (which includes having children). [Galatians 3:13-14; Deuteronomy 7:14]

You’re more than a conqueror because you are in Christ, the ultimate conqueror. [Romans 8:37]

 

What do you say to your renegade thoughts? Release your faith and say what God has said!

 

 

A Blessing For You

Posted on by Evangeline

In Genesis 24:60, Rebekah’s family spoke a blessing over her as she was leaving their household to be married to Isaac. It’s a lesson in the power of the blessing. Her family had no idea that she would later face a struggle with infertility [Genesis 25:21]. But the blessing they spoke  her was irreversible. Those words put something into motion on her behalf that would not be thwarted. She did indeed give birth…to twins!

God’s blessing is the same way. Once He speaks it, it’s a done deal. Job 42:2 (Amplified Bible) states, “I know that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted.”

So trust that the blessing of the Lord is for you. Speak the blessing of the womb that was spoken over Rebekah for yourself. Meditate on it daily as Truth, as YOUR truth from God. Find other scriptures that support that blessing and believe that what the mouth of the Lord has spoken shall indeed come to pass in your life.

Be blessed…

“And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, You are our sister; may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your posterity possess the gate of their enemies.” Genesis 24:60

God’s Promises of Fertility

Posted on by Evangeline

I hope you’ll be encouraged by this excerpt, which is one of the daily readings from my devotional e-book, “A Seed of Hope–God’s Promises of Fertility.”

Confidence

“Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ…”

~ 2 Corinthians 2:14 ~

Confidence. It means trusting in the abilities, strengths, integrity, or faithfulness of someone or some thing. Typically, we willingly speak out boldly about people when we are confident in them. We are told in 1 John 5:14 that having confidence in God means that we believe that He hears us when we pray according to His Word and that He will grant what we ask. Part of your battle plan against infertility must include increasing your confidence in God’s love for you.

Having confidence in others, even God, may sometimes be difficult.  Have you ever had trouble letting someone else be in charge? I have. Have you ever wanted someone else to take control of a situation and allowed him or her to do so, only to snatch it right back because you didn’t like how he or she was doing it? Maybe that’s what you’re experiencing with God—not trusting Him enough to completely let go of your circumstances and allowing Him to be in control. If so, you’ve got to get over the fear of what will happen if you’re not in control and instead, trust that His way is a better way. Develop a positive expectation of what will happen when He’s in control.

That’s what my husband and I experienced in our battle against infertility. As engineers, we both were good planners and detail-oriented. We had our lives planned out and thought we knew exactly when we’d start having children. We’d planned to wait until we had been married for 3-4 years, and of course we expected the pregnancy to happen within three months after we first started “trying”. On 6/2/86, I wrote in my journal: “Freeman and I are preparing to start pregnancy in July/August.” Well try as we may, our plan did not work.  It didn’t happen in July or August. Neither did it happen by the end of December. And so began the journey of going from doctor to doctor to see what was wrong with me and who could fix it. That journey did not last long before we decided we’d had enough. We clearly saw our need to develop confidence in God. We had to become better listeners to Him, through prayer and reading His Word, so we could follow His directions and find rest in His plan.

Speak the Word: I submit myself to God and His plan because I am confident that He always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus.

More Encouragement: Hebrews 10:35,36; 1 John 5:14,15

I hope you’ll share this with others who need encouragement in their struggle. Remember, God loves YOU and He does not withhold good things from his children.

Benefit from having hope-filled daily readings like this at your fingertips. Check out the sample or purchase your devotional, “A Seed of Hope–God’s Promises of Fertility,”  on  Smashwords.

Grace Always, Part 2

Posted on by Evangeline

Grace. It is God’s unearned favor, an unfailing strength that He pours out on His children, simply because they believe in Him.

Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 12:9, that God told him  His grace was sufficient for the struggle Paul was in. What do you think God meant? I think God was showing Paul that  he should utilize the strength (grace) that was already in him. It was in him because he believed what Jesus had done on the cross qualified him to receive it. Through Jesus, he would be strong enough to endure until the victory was manifested. It was a loving way of telling Paul to not give up because what he had inside of him, which was the grace imparted by the Spirit, was powerful! That grace would be enough to see him through to victory!

Likewise, God’s grace is powerful for us today in the 21st century. It is enough to see us through to victory. No need to fear. Simply believe, receive and depend on God’s grace.


Grace Always

Posted on by Evangeline

Have you ever wondered if God is mad at you? Do you sometimes wonder if infertility is a result of God’s anger toward you because of something you’ve done or haven’t done?

The best thing to do whenever you’re wondering about the negative things in your life is to look to the Word of God. It continually points us to Jesus and His loving, all-encompassing work on the cross. Do you know that Jesus died for you so that God’s anger toward your missteps, your wrong choices, and your bad behavior would be totally satisfied? Because He died on your behalf, He took ALL the punishment and now you can simply rest in God’s grace.

“Rest” means living life knowing that everything is completed, there’s nothing left to do to satisfy God. Jesus did it perfectly and completely so that you can enjoy receiving all that God’s grace provides. God’s response to the believer in Jesus Christ is always grace. His grace is free, it is unearned favor—nothing you can do to acquire it, nothing you can do to lose it. Grace brings goodness in your life as you continually believe that God is for you and not against you.

So when you are once again faced with wondering if God is angry and sent infertility your way as a result, think again. Only this time, think about His grace toward you and how it is sufficient to turn infertility around and send it packing.

“And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.” ~~Romans 11:6  New Living Translation