Experience joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Be empowered by focusing on the One who can change your circumstances.
Tag: overcoming infertility
Yes, No, Maybe, Wait
Do you have confidence in anyone who tells you to have faith in them to do something for you and then they tell you, “No.”? I find it hard to trust people who have been that way with me.
What about you? Do you trust people who seem to be hesitant in following through on what they’ve promised?
I’ve heard many people say that “Yes, No, Maybe, and Wait” are the answers God gives to His promises and our prayers. I respectfully disagree. I think that way of thinking opens the door to being in a position of doubt. If we are praying/asking for and believing the promises of God, then we should not make room for doubt or any wavering in our faith.
I know that doing so can be difficult when we are faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. But that is why we are instructed to “look to Jesus.” To look to His love. To look to His complete and perfect once-and-for-all sacrificial work on the cross. To look to His life-source—His word.
God’s promises and His will are His Word. His word is His bond. He sticks to it and does not “flip-flop” in His position of faithfulness. That’s why we can be encouraged to not “flip-flop” in our faith and trust in Him and His answers.
We are reassured that God’s Word is trustworthy and that the answers to His promises to us are “Yes” in 2Corinthians 1:19-20 (ESV) — “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him (Jesus). That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory,” (emphasis mine).
First John 5:14-15 tells us we can have confidence in God if we know His will and ask accordingly. Again, His will is his Word.
14- “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ” (NIV)
15- “And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” (ESV)
How do you boost and maintain your confidence that God will answer your prayers which are based on His Word/His promises? Do you have a firm belief that He hears you and answers His promises with “Yes”?
Here’s a book that I found very helpful on this topic:
What to Do When Faith Seems Weak and Victory Lost by Kenneth E. Hagin 
Day 3 of 7 Days of Joy
Day 2 of 7 Days of Joy
Focus Friday
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 you because God’s Word is Truth. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!
“So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding… All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” ~ Colossians 1:9-10
What About Me, God?
Have you ever found yourself asking the question, “What about me, God?” If you’re struggling with infertility, you might ask that question frequently. Maybe every time you see your friend with her newborn. Or when you’re at the park and see kids on the playground. Even at church when parents have their infant dedicated to the Lord. Your heart may cry out often and that’s OK. Just make sure you’re listening for His answer just as frequently!
How do you attune your ears to hear Him?
How do you listen for His encouraging words to soothe the pain of waiting?
Do you focus on His love for you?
Sometimes we get so focused on the problem of infertility, we forget to look to the Source of the answer to the problem— God’s love. You may not doubt that God can heal you. But do you find yourself doubting that He will heal you? Jesus, in Matthew 8:3, reassured the leper who wanted to be healed that He was not only able to heal him but that He was also willing to heal him. Then, in His loving way, Jesus reached out and touched the man who had a very contagious disease and had not been touched by another human being in who knows how long. That touch of compassion helped the man feel accepted and loved.
Can you see yourself in that situation? Can you see that Jesus loves YOU? That He wants you to believe that He is willing to change your circumstances? Jesus was the physical manifestation of God’s love (John 3:16). When you look to Him as being your source, you stay focused on the display of God’s love for you and begin to see His Light and Life in your life.
Remember, let your focus be on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) so you can grow in your confidence of God’s love for you. You’ll experience more peace and maintain hope as keep the eyes of your heart on the manifestation of His love for you.
Don’t Give Up
It’s hard to maintain hope when it feels like nothing is going right. But we have a CHOICE. We can choose to give up to despair or give in to hope.
Each day, we get to choose what our attitude will be about the the things we’ll face. Each day, we get to choose blessing or cursing, life or death (Deuteronomy 30:19). When we choose life, it’s so much easier to maintain hope because we are depending on One greater than us, Jesus, to supply what we need and the blessings we desire. We are then empowered through Him to continually look with great expectancy for good things to come our way.
Here’s a word of encouragement from John Maxwell that I’m sure will help you toward maintaining a hope-filled focus.
Your Blessings
Ever doubt that the blessings of God are for YOU?
Well, rest assured, they are!
What have you asked Him for lately?
Go ahead, accept what is yours to receive from God.
Get more ways to build your hope in Evangeline’s book, ” A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility.”
Ridiculous Hope
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.”
Abraham believed God’s promise. 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. That required having faith in what God had said, 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 majesty and honoring Him by the words that Abraham spoke, helped to build up his faith.
He 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 have ridiculous hope?
Sharing My YouVersion Plan
Recently, I received a request from a reader to write a Bible study plan that specifically addresses infertility and post it on the YouVersion Bible website. [According to their website, “YouVersion is a simple, ad-free Bible that brings God’s Word into your daily life,” via your phone, tablet or computer.] 
Because I know how much enlightenment comes from reading the Bible, I thought it was a wonderful idea and followed up on that suggestion.
I’m glad to say that I submitted a proposal to YouVersion and they have approved it! I must now craft a reading plan for them to upload to their site.
Would you please give me some input as to what you would like to have in a Bible reading plan about infertility? Would you want a scriptural guide outlining hope-filled verses to read on a daily, every-other-day, or weekly basis? Or would you prefer a plan that provides devotions for you to read in addition to the verses? Please let me know your preference (and other ideas) in the comments section below. Also, I would appreciate your prayers as I compose this plan. Thank you!
I will let you know when the plan is available for you and others to access on YouVersion. To say the least, I am very excited about providing this resource to bring hope to those in the midst of infertility and to encourage people around the world that infertility is not too hard for the Lord! (Genesis 8:14)