Tag: scriptures for infertility

Sticky Note Thought #6- How to Trust God More

Posted on by Evangeline

Sometimes it’s hard to trust God.

Doubts stealthily move in and cloud our focus on His promises. Despair weaves its way into our thoughts. Our level of expectancy of receiving our desires from Him is almost nil.

When you find yourself in that position, what do you do?

Whenever I’ve been in that predicament,  this has been one of the best requests I’ve (repeatedly) ever made of God:

“Help me trust You.”

Who better than God Himself could give guidance about how to trust God more? He wants you to move to a higher level of trust in Him so that you can bask in the manifestation of His promises. He wants  His Word to speak to you and ease your weariness by showing you how to trust him more. He’ll never say no to you wanting more of Him–He loves you too much!

how to trust

 

 

 

Original image courtesy of Boykung | FreeDigitalPhotos

3 Things to Do About Perpetual Pain

Posted on by Evangeline

PainThe pain of infertility can be excruciating. As I stated in my book, A Seed of Hope: God’s Promises of Fertility, I found the pain of infertility to be worse than the pain of birthing a long-awaited baby via vaginal delivery! For some of you, infertility seems to be perpetual. It’s something you’ve lived with for so long and you don’t see the end in sight. The pain of it never fully goes away and is influenced by what (babies) and who (pregnant friends) you see daily. Well, I want to encourage you with something that you may not have considered before.

Yesterday, during my morning quiet time, I was looking for a scripture about healing and came across Jeremiah 15:15-20. This passage turned my quiet time an eye-opening and exciting experience in the Word! The scripture is not one that directly addresses infertility but it definitely can be applied to it. That’s what I love about God’s Word– it is so organic, malleable, and powerful. It’s able to bring LIFE to any situation we’re facing.

In this passage, Jeremiah is complaining to God about how long he has had to face an enemy, seemingly without any help from God. He even accuses God of failing him in his time of need. Sound familiar? But guess what God’s response was to Jeremiah… “Trust Me.” I know that seems like such an extraneous instruction, one that we hear often, especially when we don’t understand what God is doing. But trusting His faithfulness is the golden ticket to what ever we need from Him. No effort is required on our part. He simply wants us to trust that He loves us and will deliver us.

This particular passage of Scripture is best digested as a combination of various translations. Below, I’ve paraphrased the verses from a few different Bible versions. I hope they open your eyes to what God  has to say about perpetual pain in our lives.

[Jeremiah says] You know where I am, God! You know, understand, and care for me. Remember what I’m doing here! Visit me and avenge me. Take my side against this enemy of mine. Don’t stand back while it ruins me. Just look at the abuse I’m taking! Don’t let my joy slip away while I wait on You.

When I found Your words, I devoured them. Your words made me glad. Your words are what sustain me; they are food to my hungry soul. They bring joy to my sorrowing heart and delight me. How proud I am to bear your name, O Lord. 

Yet, You have failed me in my time of need! You have let this issue continue far too long. Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will this never stop hurting me? You are like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail and are uncertain. Your help seems like a seasonal mountain brook—sometimes a flood, sometimes as dry as a bone.  

The Lord replied:

“Stop this foolishness and talk some sense! Return to trusting Me. If you return and give up this mistaken tone of distrust and despair, then I will give you again a settled place of quiet and safety. And if you cleanse your own heart from unworthy and unwarranted suspicions concerning My faithfulness, I will make you like a fortified, bronze wall— strong and impenetrable by troubles. Speak worthy, not worthless, words! You are to influence those troubles by speaking to them; by speaking what I have said.  Do not remain silent and thereby let troubles influence you. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail over you, for I am with you to save and deliver you.”

[Paraphrased from Message, Amplified, Living, and NIV Bibles]

Here are three things that I gleaned from this passage that you can implement in dealing with perpetual pain:

  1. Make a decision to trust God, no matter what. Get rid of the attitudes and words of distrust and despair. (Philippians 4:6-8)
  2. Determine to view God as always being faithful. As a friend once told me, being faithful means you always say “Yes.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)
  3. Choose to ensure your conversations with others reflect what God has said about your deliverance. Speak worthy, not worthless, words! (Proverbs 4:20-22)

Now that you’ve read how God corrected and encouraged Jeremiah about his pain (and gave him hope!), what will you do to address the pain you’re experiencing today? I’d love to hear from you. Leave me a note about what you’ll do!

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sarah’s DUI

Posted on by Evangeline

Sarah's DUI

Did you know that Sarah had a DUI thousands of years ago?  Her DUI was, of course, not driving while intoxicated/under the influence; it was “Deciding Under the Influence” – of doubt. Sarah made some life-changing, not-so-good decisions under the influence of doubt. Her strong incredulity about God’s promise of a son came back to bite her. Because it was taking so long for her to see the manifestation of the son God had promised them, doubt started to cloud her judgment. She made a doubt-influenced decision to help God keep His promise.

The details of Sarah’s DUI and the consequences of it were not pretty. You can read her story in Genesis 16. Doubting God’s goodness and His faithfulness to keep His word influenced her to offer her Egyptian slave, Hagar, to Abraham. Sarah decided to have her husband to take Hagar as a wife and have sex with her so that the slave could produce the heir that Abraham so desperately wanted. And of course, Abraham gladly cooperated! He probably thought that he was winning all the way around—sex with a “pretty young thing” AND producing the son he always wanted. But that was not God’s plan. As a result of this DUI, Sarah did not experience God’s promised gift as quickly as she thought.

God’s plan was for Sarah to birth a son. A surrogate was not going to bring forth the child of promise that He had planned for Sarah and Abraham. Even though it looked impossible, even though it took a long time, God’s plan was still the best plan and He did not need Sarah to run interference and attempt to force His plan to come to fruition.

Have you ever had a DUI like Sarah’s? Are there times when you struggle because you’re making a decision under the influence of doubt?

Decide to rest in God’s promise. Decide to be still and know Him as God of your circumstances. Your best efforts can never measure up to what He can do to bring good things your way!

 

 

Image from Springfield News Sun

Monday’s Marinade – Good Health Checklist

Posted on by Evangeline

I love checklists!

Lists can be powerfully helpful and satisfying. Making a list helps me to stay focused. It increases the chances that I will get things done. Can you relate to this?

God is a list-maker too. In the Bible, He gives us lists of things to do to Help us live a life filled with the good things He planned for us. Here’s one of His lists. It’s a good health checklist. Marinate your week with thoughts about your entire body being healthy by using God’s Word!

Health checklist - Proverbs 4

 

Focus Friday – Jesus’ Love for YOU

Posted on by Evangeline

Looking for love in all the wrong places? Meditate on Jesus’ love for YOU instead. His love is unfailing, unending, and undeniably powerful. Believe it works for your benefit. Allow God’s Word about His love to become your Truth.

Focus on this scripture of love throughout the day.

It’s God’s Word about Jesus’  love for YOU.

It’s what He desires you to believe. Believe it is true for you because God’s Word is Truth.

Use it as an affirmation. Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day. Personalize it by putting your name in it!

Jesus' Love

 

Monday’s Marinade – Don’t Move

Posted on by Evangeline

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. 

There is an account in the Bible about the blind men who came to Jesus asking to be healed:

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, screaming loudly, “Have mercy and compassion on us, Son of David (Messiah)!”  When He went into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”  Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith [your trust and confidence in My power and My ability to heal] it will be done to you.”  And their eyes were opened. ~Matthew 9:27-30 AMP

Rest in knowing that God can be trusted. He wants you to believe His Word is true. He doesn’t want you to move from the stability and power of His Word. 

Here’s your spiritual marinade about believing God’s Word:

Monday's Marinade - Don't Move - Believe

Communication During Infertility

Posted on by Evangeline

Communication in a marriage is of utmost importance; it is critical if the marriage is going to be the best it can be. Without open and authentic communication, intimacy is negatively affected and that in itself opens the door to other problems. 

Mark 10:9 – What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

James 1:19 – Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.

Find help about how to strengthen your marriage during infertility in my book, “Infertility Sucks! How to Maintain Hope in Your Marriage During Infertility.”

Today’s post is taken from my friend’s blog over at In-Due-Time. Caroline Harries’ husband, Colby, shares great insights about maintaining open communication and expressing from the heart during their infertility journey. 

Communication is vital to relationships and essential to marriages. We have all heard, experienced, and accepted this important truth. Yet it is these types of foundational truths that we can also take for granted and miss if we become complacent. And communicating specifically in the area of a marriage that is going through infertility is something that has come up for us numerous times. I recently realized where I may have missed key communication that caused recurring heartache for us. Hopefully this will help other couples identify a potential area of hurt and miscommunication.

Read more…

Communication in Marriage

What do you do to maintain open communication with your spouse? 

Focus Friday – Loved by a Father

Posted on by Evangeline

I know. June is long gone and so is the American celebration of Father’s Day. But tomorrow is my husband’s birthday and I want to celebrate and honor what an awesome father he has been to our children. He gladly sacrifices having better things for himself so that he can provide for our children. This week, our youngest son had some car trouble and had to drive Freeman’s car to get to a couple of commitments he had. When he got back home, he said, “Dad, you need a new car.” 🙂 Freeman’s response was, “I know, but I needed to get y’all through school first.”  That’s the kind of dad he’s been all along– one that doesn’t mind doing without so that his children have what he feels they need.

God is like that too. He loved us so much that He was willing to:

  • do without the presence of His Son for decades,
  • watch His Son go through the blood-sweating agony of taking on mankind’s sin,
  • turn away from His Son as He hung dishonored on the cross with His flesh sliced, and bloodied, and
  • send His only Son to hell in mankind’s stead.

But the Father didn’t stop there; He did not leave Jesus in hell. He gladly made those sacrifices knowing there was  a perfectly good ending to the story. He raised His Son with power so that we could then be seated with Jesus on the right hand of God– a position of power. The Father was determined to get us back and love on us NO MATTER WHAT!

What  sacrifice!

What LOVE!

How do you see yourself loved by the God who sustains the entire universe?

Take a moment today to express your love to the Father AND, more importantly, to receive His “no-matter-what” kind of love.

My father--father's day

 

Photo credit: Women Living Well

Monday’s Marinade – God’s Love for YOU

Posted on by Evangeline

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!

Here’s your spiritual marinade about God’s love:

God's Love - Monday's marinade

Focus Friday – Promise Made, Promise Kept

Posted on by Evangeline

Not many of us experience “a promise made, a promise kept” with other people. But the good thing is that we can count on God to keep every promise He has made.

God has made many promises to you and He will do what He said He would do. Find His promise about your situation in His Word. Expect Him to fulfill it!

Speak this Word to yourself throughout the day– by doing so, you’ll encourage yourself and maintain clarity about His will for you.

Promise