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.
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!
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 your words change your life. Your words really do have an impact on your life — make the connection between what you say and what you have. 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!
Change your focus in those moments when doubt sweeps over your soul. Remember to do as Hebrews 12:2 suggests:
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
Focus on that scripture throughout the day. Focus on His unchanging love. Focus on His unstoppable power. Focus on His faithfulness to always say “Yes” to His promises.
Having faith in God’s promises means you allow the words in His promises to become influencers of how you think and act.
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.
Hopelessness during infertility. The two seem to go together. But do they have to?
The danger of hopelessness is a loss of your joy, a critical element in maintaining hope. Hopelessness is spawned from giving up. Giving up on something means losing faith or belief that the thing will ever happen. It’s an act of surrender to an enemy. You feel forced to give up and give in.
In the case of infertility, giving up is the choice someone makes when they declare that they are abandoning the fertility promises God made. It’s a decision that infertility is incurable or unsolvable. As hopelessness swirls into every area of life and becomes a consuming power, it pulls all kinds of negative and dangerous thoughts into one’s mind. One might think that infertility is too hard for God (it’s not–Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:27). Or she may choose to think that God’s promises are not for everyone (they are — 2 Corinthians 1:20; 2 Peter 1:3-4).
But I want to offer an alternative to the hopelessness. There is no need to abdicate your position of authority over infertility when you are focused on Jesus, the One who is the cure for everything. Focus is everything. Keep your focus on the Problem-Solver instead of on the problem.
Decide now to continue to trust God’s promises of fertility as being solid ground to stand on. They are never shaky because God does not lie; they are not like quicksand because they are based on the Solid Rock, Jesus. His promises are His forever-settled Word— God’s Word is His bond.
It can be tough to continue to have hope when your faith has become weak and you feel like giving up. But that’s the time to take this essential next step:
Those words will begin to bring the joy back into your situation and soon you’ll feel strong again because “the joy of the Lord is our strength!”
“Sometimes you want to give up, but you can’t–something deep inside you won’t let you. No white flags, no bailing out, no throwing in the towel for you. You have to keep going; you must carry on you just take the next step…and the next…and the next.” ~B. J. Gallagher
HOW CLOSE ARE YOU?
You may be closer than you think!
“Keep Calm” image courtesy of Keepcalm-omatic.com
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 never giving up on God coming through for you. Don’t Quit! 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!
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. Speak this Word to yourself as an affirmation throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it. Expect it to manifest in your life!
“I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.”
~ Psalm 16:8,9 NKJV~
Abraham firmly believed God’s promise. Romans 4:18 (NLT) tells us how Abraham had ridiculous hope—“Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations.”
I recently read how Jewish tradition promotes that Sarah actually had no womb:
Sarai was barren, she had no child.
[Why the double phrasing?] To teach that she did not even have a place for offspring – i.e. a womb. (Rashi, citing Talmud – Yevamot 64a)
[This is an interpretation of Genesis 11:30.]
But even when there was no reason to hope — Sarah had been barren for decades and he was nearly 100 years old — Abraham kept believing that they would have a child. Their predicament made hope seem nonsensical, even laughable. But Abraham kept hoping.
This wasn’t the first time Abraham had experienced and maintained ridiculous hope. God told him to leave his extended family (very unusual in that culture) and go to a different land, promising him that he would be blessed and become great. Abraham made a decision to step out and find out. The promises came true as Abraham trusted God.
I think Abraham was an outstanding example of how to have ridiculous hope in the midst of infertility. He opened himself to hear from God. He trusted what God said. So much so, that he changed his name from Abram, which means “exalted father” , to Abraham, which means “father of many nations.” Imagine hearing other people call him father of multitudes when he and Sarah didn’t even have one child! Think of the ridicule he must have experienced. His ridiculous hope required having faith in what God had promised, trusting that what God had promised would indeed come to pass. Repeatedly hearing that description of himself , through others calling his name, surely must have built Abraham’s faith (faith comes by hearing–Romans 10:17).
There was another factor that increased Abraham’s hope for a child and faith in God’s promise. We learn in Romans 4:20 (YLT) that he “was strengthened in faith, having given glory to God.” The act of praising God, acknowledging His power and honoring Him by the words that Abraham spoke, helped to build up his faith.
Abraham had ridiculous hope in God, viewing Him as the only One who could give him all that he desired.
What will it take for you to live each day having ridiculous hope?
Sometimes, when we feel alarmed about an issue in our life, we can draw hasty conclusions that are wrong. Some people will even begin to suffer from panic attacks.
The Bible tells us that David experienced this. He wrote in Psalm 31:22 [NLT], “In panic I cried out, “I am cut off from the LORD!”
Infertility can make you feel that way, especially when it has lasted for a while. It’s as if God doesn’t care, like He’s purposely turned away and cut Himself off from hearing you. But that’s a deception straight from hell. The devil’s mind games and antics are always meant to make us draw away from God because he knows the solutions to our problems are ALWAYS found in drawing near to God.
David did eventually see the folly of his panic-inspired thought that he was cut off from God. He chose to draw near to God. He made a decision to encourage himself in the Lord by remembering God’s love for him. David told God, “But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.”
God passionately loves us and will never turn away or cut us off. As believers in Jesus, we can be fully confident of this in any situation. Jesus said, “And be sure of this: I am with you always.” [Matthew 28:20 NLT]
Here are a couple of Scripture passages that serve to remind you that you are loved by the only One who can do everything necessary to turn your situation around and replace your panic with peace:
“Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!” As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, “Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me.” ~Daniel 10:19 NLT
God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope. ~2Thessalonians 2:16 NLT
Photo courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net
Need some encouragement as you go through this season of infertility?
I am excited to introduce A Seed of Hope fertility support group, a “Closed” Facebook group created to serve women struggling with infertility. Fertility solutions can be found in God’s Word and this group will serve to encourage you and help you find hope in God’s Word and His promises of fertility.
Living with infertility can leave you feeling isolated, with no one to talk to who really understands the reality of it. By being a part of this group, you won’t have to walk this journey alone.
This group is unique in that we will address the spiritual aspect of infertility and will look to God’s Word for encouragement, direction, and hope. I will moderate the group, occasionally posing questions to foster more confidence in God’s promises of fertility.
Come join us on Facebook in our new fertility support group. Become an active part of this uplifting community!
IMPORTANT: Because the group is a Secret Facebook group, you’ll need to email me at Evangeline@EvangelineColbert.com or message me on Facebook to let me know of your desire to join and then I can send you the Facebook invitation to join.