Sarah, Rachel, Rebekah, Hannah, Elizabeth; who are these women and what do they have in common?
These are all women from the bible who were barren. They struggled and suffered with the weight of infertility. Later on, God did give them all children. Sons, in fact!
Psalm 113:9 says, ‘He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. Praise the Lord!’ in the NLT version. The NIV says, ‘He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.’ and The Message version says, ‘He gives childless couples a family, gives them joy as the parents of children. Hallelujah!’
This is all very positive in the end. These women who suffered with the deepest agony and heartache also demonstrated the greatest strength of faith, and then they received what they had always longed for. These are truly stories of hope.
I have to be honest, I am not always full of the same faith that these women clearly were. I am sure there probably were days when they doubted God like I do today but they were strong and held onto the hope they had.
Most days, I question if I have been forgotten, I doubt that God will come through for me in this, it doesn’t feel like I have any hope.
And some days that makes me feel a failure.
But for every day of feeling like a failure and struggling to hold onto hope, I know there are 10 x that many people praying for us and holding onto that hope on our behalf. I know from past experiences that this can be incredibly powerful and can be what holds us close to Christ when we can’t do it ourselves.
There are days when I feel close to God, where I trust Him and He brings me joy. Though these days are few and far between, these are the days and the weeks the keep me going and bring me the greatest strength to keep going.
A lot of people think that being a Christian means that we believe no bad thing will ever come against us. This is absolutely not true. Being a Christian means we will come up against all the normal things of this world, plus the difficulties that being a Christian can bring.
Infertility has tested and challenged my faith, it has pushed me to the edge and made me question everything I believe in.
But it has also strengthened my faith and helped me to turn my eyes towards God more and trust in something bigger and greater than myself, than the NHS and the fertility clinic… All of which are not perfect!
Ultimately, in all of this that we have been journeying through, the image above by Charlie Macksey sums it up. The clouds are grey, they a thick and dark and pouring relentlessly. But behind all of that are the blue skies, the God who is ever-loving and carries me through the darkest of storms.
Journeying to Family 