Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.” (First Samuel 1:19-20)
Since tomorrow is my oldest niece’s birthday, and since Mother’s Day is just around the corner, I thought I’d share a story with you that’s very special to our family.
Every time I think about Mandy’s struggle to conceive or tell others about the miracle that followed, I am once again reminded that God’s Word is alive. You see, the Bible is more than just a good book filled with great stories. It’s the Good Book full of great promises. It’s your lifeline! So why do so many of us leave it on the coffee table instead of discovering its power and relevance every day?
Mandy found out just how powerful and pertinent the Word of God is in a personal way. She and her husband Chris had tried for several years to have a baby, but every month the pregnancy test came back negative. The doctor didn’t have a very good prognosis for Mandy, and with every day that passed, she wondered if she’d ever have a child of her own. She was so discouraged. Lots of well-meaning people gave her advice: “Take this vitamin and it will help you get pregnant.” Or “Try conceiving when there is a full moon.” Or “Stop eating acidic food.” Or “Drink lots of carrot juice.” Mandy followed every piece of advice, trying desperately to become pregnant, but the only thing she became was depressed and a little orange from the carrot juice.
Then her mother said, “Mandy, honey, why don’t you find some scriptures in the Bible to stand on? Find your promises in the Word of God and pray them over yourself every single day. The Word works!”
Mandy had been a Christian since she was a little girl, so she was certainly open to this suggestion… and she had pretty much tried everything else. She dug into the Bible and found the story of Sarah and Abraham and read about how Sarah, who was physically too old to conceive, had given birth to Isaac. Then she found the story of Hannah and how Hannah had prayed for a baby and finally given birth to Samuel and later several other children.
Mandy had her precedent in the Word of God, and since God is no respecter of persons, she believed God would do the same for her.
He did, and it didn’t take long! Mandy stood on those scriptures and several others for three months. She prayed them over herself on her way to work every single day, and one Monday night, the pregnancy test came back positive! Mandy gave birth to a healthy 8-pound, 13-ounce baby boy–Walker–on February 15, 2006. Then on March 19, 2008, Waverly came into the world, and Mandy was once again amazed at God’s goodness.
God has a promise for you, too. Dust off that Bible and find out what God says about your situation. That doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily have your happy ending in three months just like Mandy, but you could. And wouldn’t it be better to stand in faith believing for your miracle than to remain depressed and sad over your negative circumstances?
Let God’s Word and Mandy’s miracle encourage you today as you believe God for your breakthrough. The Bible is full of promises just for you–so stand on those promises today! (Oh, and happy birthday, Mandy. I love you!)
