What does it mean when something more-than-coincidental happens? Two nights ago, a friend had a dream that altered the trajectory of her infertility story.
Nancy dreamed that her reproductive endocrinologist was out of town, so another physician from the practice performed the retrieval. He put her eggs in a glass container, added water, then dumped sperm into the glass. When she discovered what had happened, she was hysterical and had to be moved to a different room where nurses tried to console her.
It would be easy enough to write this off — an infertile woman, stressing prior to her last IVF cycle, continues to worry during sleep – except that the next day, the dream proved prophetic.
Nancy went to her appointment. Sure enough, her physician was out of town. A colleague would see her. It was the man from her dream. Laughing, she told him, “I had a dream about you last night.” She shared the whole story, and he decided to pull her chart. The chart said IVF, but no mention of ICSI. Just as her dream had shown her, sperm and egg would be combined, but not using the right protocol.
Was God in that? It’s easy to stand outside the story and say, yes, of course. But it’s harder to be in the middle of the story – in the midst of infertility – and believe that God is actively participating in how it unfolds. Why is that? Maybe because our expectations can limit God. We’re not sure He shares our dream of parenting, or we’re not sure He cares enough to get involved in our story, or we don’t believe He actually talks to anyone any more. Whatever the reason, our lack of faith limits our ability to perceive His presence.
The Bible says, “…God does speak—now one way, now another—though men may not perceive it. In a dream… he may speak in their ears…” [Job 33:15]. Nancy did not initially perceive her dream as a warning, but still, she shared it. Her substitute doctor did not initially sense a problem, but still, he checked on it. By responding to the message of the dream – and the possibility that it held meaning – they invited God to alter the trajectory of the story. That led to another discussion which opened the door to another blessing. The doctor told her about a new, experimental protocol that could further increase the odds of success. Nancy qualified; was she interested?
Would she have told her regular doctor about the dream? Would that doctor have double-checked the chart? Would the mistake have been caught in time? Would anyone have noticed if it hadn’t? Would the experimental protocol have been mentioned? Would all of this (or any of it) have happened without the dream?
Nancy doesn’t know… and she’s still waiting to see what the outcome of this IVF cycle will be. Maybe there will be a baby, and it will be clear in hindsight that God willed this series of events into being. Or, maybe there won’t be, and she will have peace that everything scientifically possible was done correctly on her last IVF cycle. Then, she and her husband will turn confidently to adoption. Either way, she knows she is moving in the direction of God’s best, and she’s confident that He is part of her story.
Listen, and He will speak to you in yours.
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