Anything is Possible

Recently, I came across a verse from the Talmud that I’d read once before, many years ago:  “Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow, grow.’”  Crossing paths with these words again made me think, is there truth to this child’s eye view?  Is there someone urging me on as I struggle to become what I’m meant to be?

In the self-imposed isolation that is often our instinctive response to infertility, it can be easy to feel very alone – forgotten by all the people who conceive effortlessly and breeze by us, oblivious to our silent suffering.  The world doesn’t seem interested in slowing down to acknowledge our losses, or to comfort us in our grief.  And no one seems to know the words to bend over and whisper to encourage us, “Yes, yes.  You can, You can.”

Author Susan Jeffers writes, “We have been taught to believe that negative equals realistic and positive equals unrealistic.”  She’s right.  And as a result, we tend to brace for the worst even when we hope for the best.

We lean toward anticipating failure (especially if we’ve already experienced it), rather than expecting success.  We instinctively question our optimism when faced with the many disappointments of infertility.  And we doubt that anyone is whispering anything over us… except maybe, “Why are you still hoping?”

So, why are we?

Here’s why I think we should be.  Despite the many hurdles we’ve failed to clear and the many defeats we’ve been forced to face, some part of us believes that the “impossible” is still possible.  And it is. Scripture tells us that “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”  What we, in our realistic assessment of things, believe cannot happen… actually can.  Only two things are required to make it so:  God’s will and our faith.

Nothing will grow apart from God’s will.  No blade of grass.  No seed of hope.  But when God plants a seed of hope in us, I’m convinced it is for a purpose.  There is a plan that involves maturing that seed of hope into a life-changing reality.  When?  How?  I know only that the Holy Spirit has been sent to whisper, “Anything is possible.  With God all things are possible.  Grow, grow, seed of hope.”

Our faith is tested in this time of waiting and wondering.  Will it ever happen?  Will the future be anything like what I envision?  Rather than worrying whether the seed will grow, we should focus on faithfully preparing the soil for it to flourish.  A fertile faith life is the best environment in which to nurture and grow our seeds of hope.

So, is your faith life fertile ground for a miracle?  And, are you trusting that God’s will for you is His very best for you – even if it’s not your plan for you?  If so, the time is coming when your seed of hope will spring to life and become the future God has planned.

How do I know?  Anything is possible.

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Want to read more about God doing the impossible?  Click this link, and then read Pregnant with Hope: Good News for Infertile Couples.

Infertility and the Easter Blahs

Is Easter meaningful for infertile couples?  That can be a surprisingly tricky question.

For most people, it signals the arrival of a joyful spiritual season, a candy-filled celebration of spring, or both.  The commercial imagery associated with the holiday is innocuous enough:  bunnies, flowers, eggs… all signs of fertile, new life.  But, for those struggling through infertility, that focus can be a reminder of what we don’t have and can’t seem to achieve.

The resurrection message echoes that reminder – of the lack of life we feel (spiritually), or seem able to create and sustain (biologically).  Where is God in this struggle?  Why does this journey seem so barren and lifeless?  These  thoughts add a sorrowful undercurrent to the symbols of the season.

Expressing grief during this exuberantly fertile, hope-filled season can seem, and feel, selfish and self-indulgent.  Everyone around us is dressed in bright colors, enjoying the sunshine, celebrating the end of winter’s darkness.  Why don’t we join in?  Because it hurts.  So, we pull back from the celebration – feeling fragile, heartbroken and very much alone.

Should couples struggling through infertility be glad, then, only after Easter’s passed?

Not so fast.

A few years ago, on Easter Sunday, I walked past a tiny church that couldn’t hold more than twenty people at a time.  Services were over.  The parking lot was empty.  The doors were closed.  But, the sign out front proclaimed, “God still rolls away stones.”  That got me thinking….

In the Bible, the rolled-away stone at Jesus’ tomb revealed good news (despite foreshadowing, not at all what his followers had anticipated). They found, not death as they’d expected, but life.  Not cause for grief as they’d been feeling, but for joy.  Not defeat as they’d believed they were suffering, but victory!

In an instant, everything the disciples thought they knew and understood about what had happened turned upside-down.  This wasn’t the end; it was the beginning.

How does that moment speak to the infertility experience?  Just as in scripture, a stone is rolled into place when we conclude it’s over, and hope is dead.

In the midst of infertility, our fear and doubt frequently steer us toward this conclusion.  When we agree with these feelings, dwell on negative thoughts, and accept them as “truth,” we allow satan to roll a stone over the hope God has placed in our hearts.  Or worse, we put the stone there ourselves. The longer that stone is in place, the deader our hope seems… until hopelessness becomes the new normal.

But God has another plan.

He rolls away the stone and creates a new hope.  It is a rule-breaking, expectation-shattering, despair-defeating hope.  A God-sized Hope!  Hope that is not limited by human understanding.  Hope that leaps out of the darkness of our fear-filled hearts and into the light, alive again!

How does He do it?

With a word of encouragement or a scrap of good news.  A new protocol.  An inspiring book.  A “hang in there” phone call.  A hopeful test result.  A stranger’s blog post.  A helpful suggestion.  A coincidental conversation.  A timely discovery.  Whatever it takes to breathe life into the hope He purposefully planted in our hearts.

When we sense and claim this hope, when we trust with all our hearts and do not rely on our ability to understand [Proverbs 3:5], we feel a surge in our spirit:  “Lord, I don’t understand, but if You say so, I do believe it’s possible….”

When we say “Yes” to hope, and “No” to fear, we affirm our faith in the God of miracles who every Easter reminds us:  I can do anything.  Let Him roll away your stone.

 

 

 

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Find more resources and cause for hope at PregnantWithHope.com