Monday’s Marinade is provided to you as a means of “soaking yourself” in the hope-filled Word of God at the beginning of your week. Start your week by meditating (thinking and muttering to yourself) on this Word.
Rest in knowing that God’s love is always for you and never against you. Let His love wash over you today! Be sure to marinate your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!
Have you ever had a day when it felt as if no one could understand the pain and the struggle you’re experiencing? It may have felt like you’re all alone in your own world laden with sorrow, shame and feelings of inferiority. You probably wondered if anyone anywhere is praying for you?
When this loneliness seems to overwhelm you, be assured, you’re not alone in having those feelings. But even better, know that Someone, who’s everywhere, is praying for you. That Someone is Jesus. He’s sympathetic to your situation. He’s full of compassion. He knows the heartache you’re experiencing. He’s the one who wants to change it.
“Therefore He [Jesus] is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” ~Hebrews 7:25 NLT
Rest in the truth that you are wholeheartedly loved by God, the Creator of the universe. Find peace in knowing that even if it seems no one else on earth understands your pain or you think no one else is praying for you, there is Someone who does. When you trust Him as your Advocate and Intercessor, Jesus is the One who can turn “one of those days” into a day of heaven on earth.
“My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” ~ Psalm 121:2
Here are some thoughts about hope that I shared over a year ago at In Due Time. If you’re about to give up because you’re feeling stuck in a difficult situation, I think this will help:
I know what the pressure of infertility feels like. It’s as if it completely surrounds you, pressuring you to give up, to not see any advantage in continuing to hope. In the midst of infertility, life can feel like you’re always stuck between a rock and a hard place. It seems like not much is working out in your favor. Every day seems as if infertility colors how you view life. It looms over every aspect of your life, clouding your vision so it’s hard to see anything good that’s on the horizon.
But I’m glad to share with you that in that place of feeling stuck, hope can shake things up, freeing you to enjoy life!
Here are 5 secrets that I’ve found to be powerful in nurturing and maintaining hope as you look to come out of this struggle with infertility.
Hope is one of the three things that 1 Corinthians 13:13 tells us will always remain as a resource that allows us to tap into God’s grace. We are to always have hope—the joyful and confident expectation of God coming through for us!
Allow hope to shake things up in your life so that you experience the freedom to confidently expect good things from a very good Father.
An Affirmation for You: God loves me and desires for me to experience only His goodness. I rest in His love for me. I choose to allow His desires for my life to be my desires. I maintain my hope in God!
When you’re feeling stuck in a situation at work, how do you bring yourself out of that? How can you apply that same strategy to infertility or some other personal struggle?
Happy Resurrection Sunday!
How will you spend this day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God, and the Savior who loved EVERYONE in this world so much that He gave His life so that each person who believes in His resurrection can freely enjoy relationship with God, receive His love, and call Him, “Father”.
The first people to be sent to tell the exciting news of Jesus being no longer dead but risen and alive were women! Like women typically do, they rose early, before dawn, to care someone else. This time, it was for the purpose of taking care of the dead body of One they loved– Jesus. They walked from their homes to the tomb where Jesus had been laid so that they could apply spices to His entombed body. Have you ever wondered how they expected to get beyond the soldiers who had been posted there and how they planned to move the stone that sealed the tomb? I suppose it didn’t matter to them, they just knew what had to be done according to their Jewish custom and they went, prepared to get it done.
Jesus had women involved in His ministry while He was on earth, and now that He was risen, He commissioned them to spread the Word that He was alive. It was to be an important mission of love to share an important message of love. He wanted them to be the heralds to spread the message of a new relationship that was now available to everyone, not just the 12 disciples and followers within the borders of Israel.
Here’s how those first evangelists spent their day:
“The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.
At that time there was a strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone. He was shining as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. And go quickly and tell his followers, ‘Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.”
The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell Jesus’ followers what had happened. Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.”The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell…”
~Matthew 28:1-10 (NCV)
Isn’t it just like Jesus to recognize how women are typically more relationship-oriented and therefore would use them to be the first to give the message to others that a new relationship was now available with God? He gave a word of comfort to them to share so that others would believe in Him through their words. He entrusted women with birthing His church by giving them the message of His resurrection to share. For thousands of years, that message those women shared about Jesus being alive has brought victory to all who believed it.
How will you spend this day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus? Will you share the good news of His resurrection with someone who may not know it?
“Let us hold tightly to the confession of faith without wavering; for He is faithful that promised.” ~ Hebrews 10:23
The character of Jesus is such that He would NEVER lie (Numbers 23:19). His character, which is completely based on love, paves the way for having strong faith in Him because He would never make a promise and then go back on His Word or fail to fulfill it. Hold tightly– don’t loosen your grip on His promises. God’s words and His promises are true. Get into the habit of confessing your faith in them out loud. The passage in 2 Corinthians 1:20 assures us that His answers to His promises are already “Yes” in Christ.
Romans 10:17 informs us that faith comes by hearing:
“So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” (NLT)
“The Good News about Christ” is that He has finished all the work and fulfilled all the requirements necessary in order for the Father to say “Yes.” There’s no work left to be done except to believe in Jesus’ love and His willingness to bring good things into our lives (John 6:29). When we hear ourselves reading about His love and repeatedly hear ourselves saying God’s words, it builds our faith. When we hear ourselves speaking the specific promises God made about our personal situation, it builds our faith in those promises. It increases our confidence in God’s integrity, in His ability to do what seems impossible, and in His willingness to do everything He promised.
Doubt is the enemy that comes along to plug our ears to the Good News so that we’re not hearing God’s promises. Doubt distracts us from looking to Jesus. When we’re enticed by the devil’s doubts to give up on God’s promises, we must react by speaking God’s Word to those doubts. By doing so, we choose to retain hope within our soul and expect God to do what He said He’d do. Our soul, which consists of our mind, will, and emotions, must choose to believe the promise, speak the promise to the problem while undergirding that confession with hope, and “act as if” the promise is already true.
When we have confidence in God fulfilling His promises and we have only a strong expectation of a good outcome, that is when we are empowered and living with strong faith.
Do you view God as a strict Judge or a loving Father?
Focus on the following scripture throughout the day. It’s God’s Word and it’s what He desires us to believe. Believe it is true for your circumstances because God’s Word is Truth. Act like it is your truth.
Monday’s Marinade is provided to you as a means of “soaking yourself” in the hope-filled Word of God at the beginning of your week. Start your week by meditating about how it pleases God when you have confidence in His love for you. Repeatedly think about this and quietly say it to yourself. Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!
Holidays can be difficult to navigate when you’ve been declared infertile. I remember how easy it was to get caught up in all that was going wrong (infertility). It would have been easy to paint myself into a corner and neglect enjoying what’s meant to be a festive and fun time. With the disappointment that comes month after month, it can become difficult to maneuver through the emotional drain of infertility, the possible health scares, the financial toll, and the marital problems that tend to stealthily creep in.
But during this week leading up to America’s celebration of Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday season, I encourage you to make a DECISION to look for the things in life you can be thankful for during the holidays and beyond. A thankful heart looks beyond its present negative circumstances to the positive possibilities that lie ahead.
You may be asking yourself, “What do I have to be thankful for when all I want is to get pregnant and it isn’t happening?”
Be thankful that God is with you.
If you’ve asked Jesus into your heart, He has promised to never leave you and to always bless you with his unfailing grace. Be thankful that you can rest in knowing that God is for you and not against you (Romans 8:31).
Be thankful that there is nothing too hard for God, not even infertility!
Some people believe that we’re to thank God for putting us in tough situations because that’s how He teaches us something. I believe God is a better teacher than that. He can get his point across to us without putting us in tough situations. I believe that tough situations are brought to our lives by the devil but God can and will bring us out of them. Trust in God’s ability and willingness to make good come out of bad.
Be thankful for role models.
Be thankful that He has given so many examples of women who overcame infertility and that He has made promises in the Bible that relate to your fertility. Thank Him that you can count on Him to make good on those promises.
Be thankful that God hears you as you pray His promises.
“So is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me [through your confession of it] without producing results. As you believe and speak it, My Word will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” ~Isaiah 55:11 [paraphrased]
When you’re in the throes of difficult circumstances, life can become overwhelmingly sad and anxiety-laden. But remember, the One who has the power to change your circumstances is always right there with you in the midst of them, ready to display His power as you trust His love and His promises. God the Father wants to bring you out of the grip of tough times into His gentle caress of peace and rest. That’s what He planned for your destiny.
Giving thanks to God is the means of focusing on the solution rather than the problems we have. When we give thanks in the midst of our problems, we keep victory’s door open. Thanking God when we’re dealing with infertility or any other trying circumstance is the best way to express that we expect Him to show Himself strong on our behalf and to make good things happen.
Be thankful that He loves you unconditionally.
God the Father loves you just as much as He loves Jesus (John 17:23)! To have someone who always loves you no matter how much you doubt His ability, willingness, and timing…that’s something to be thankful for!
What will you choose to thank God for today?
Monday’s Marinade is provided to you as a means of “soaking yourself” in the hope-filled Word of God at the beginning of your week. Start your week by meditating on this Word about allowing God to be the Source of your success. Repeatedly think about this scripture and quietly say it to yourself. Marinate and season your week with hope and a confident expectation of good things happening!
Have confidence that God loves you and has a blessed future planned for you. Focus on this scripture throughout the day. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day.
