The period of pregnancy can be daunting–all the uncertainties, the anticipation. I had my share of fears and concerns as well during my first one, and I thought the second time would be a breeze. I was pretty much relaxed, and looking forward to a happy gestational period. All this, until week 12.
On a Monday night, when I was around 12 weeks (or about 3 months) pregnant the second time, I noticed some bleeding. I was overcome with terror and immediately began to pray to the Lord. I also immediately began to condemn myself, believing that I had done something wrong in God’s eyes. That evening, the Holy Spirit spoke to me in such a decisive manner that I had the impression He was issuing an order to me. He said that as a child of God, the only “fear” I was permitted to have was the fear of God. I had the impression that the source of every other worry was the adversary. I urged myself to believe what I experienced in my soul, and the next day I conducted a scan. I was relieved to hear the baby’s heartbeat, and I praised the Lord for maintaining the baby in my womb in spite of the bleeding that had occurred the night before.
He said that as a child of God, the only “fear” I was permitted to have was the fear of God. I had the impression that the source of every other worry was the adversary.
After some time had passed, I went in for an anomaly scan, and the results showed in the cord there should 3 passages in normal scenarios but I had only 2. In addition, the detailed result indicated that I was at an intermediate risk for having a child with down syndrome. My doctor suggested that I go through a treatment that would not be intrusive in order to get more information on this report.
Two days later, I was overcome with a terrible terror. I ran a number of searches on Google pertaining to this ailment, and I read a number of articles on the internet that presented contrasting points of view.
I was aware, deep inside my spirit, that the Holy Spirit was interrogating me about something:
“You are able to have faith in God for your life beyond death, which you cannot see.
I assisted you with your finances and got you out of challenging economic difficulties; now, what would it take for you to believe Me about the wellbeing of this unborn child?”
This helped me understand that rather than conducting a search on Google, I should conduct a search in the Bible and focus on nourishing my faith rather than my concerns. During this time, the Holy Spirit prompted me to declare the blessings of the cross for my salvation and recovery, which I had already obtained 2,000 years ago, by taking communion with my spouse on a daily basis for the following 30 days. I also had the impression that if I could trust in God for my salvation, then I could also believe in God for my complete and total healing since these two things were essentially two sides of the same coin. Even though the status of my single umbilical artery did not alter over the course of my pregnancy, my husband and I made the decision to forego the non-invasive test and instead place our faith in the Lord to develop our child inside of me according to the specifications of God’s perfect creation. I saw that the succeeding scan findings started getting more positive, and the doctor verified that the baby’s parameters started appearing normal during the third trimester of my pregnancy. This is in line with what His word says, which states that we are fearfully and wonderfully formed.
The Lord prompted me to stop being defensive in my mental state and to instead announce and decree His promises over my life and the baby. He also told me to quit worrying about what other people thought of me. I began to declare that I was supernaturally pregnant over my body and continued doing the things I normally performed. I made the decision to put my faith in the Lord for a miraculous delivery as well as a miraculous recovery after the delivery. To give all the glory to Jesus, the labor and delivery of the baby happened so quickly that by the time I arrived at the hospital, the doctor had already hurried in after driving the extra 15 minutes from her house, and the baby was delivered in fewer than 45 minutes after I arrived at the hospital.
What an incredible blessing it has been to finally meet our son, Gideon. Funnily, there is story behind this name; it was chosen six years before he was born. During my first pregnancy, I had a feeling that I was going to have a son and we decided on the name Gideon. However, God blessed us with our beautiful daughter Mikaela as our first child. The name Gideon stuck to us though, and little did we know that six years later we would welcome a son into our family.
The ways and thinking of God are not like our own at all! I was released from the hospital on the second day, and I continued to hope that God would grant me a miraculous recovery. During the time that I was in the shower, I went about touching the areas that hurt and praying in the Spirit. By doing so, I saw that the swelling in my lower back as well as my foot went away and returned to its usual state. To God be the glory, I was back to performing my regular activities around two weeks after giving birth, which was a speedier postpartum recovery than I had after my first delivery. The degree to which we rely on God and put our confidence in Him determines the magnitude of the things that God can and will do in and through us.
The degree to which we rely on God and put our confidence in Him determines the magnitude of the things that God can and will do in and through us.
| Consider this: Whether you are a mother-to-be awaiting your child or woman longing for a child, I urge you to RUN to God as you wait in this season that you are in; He will never leave you nor forsake you–this is His promise. So, RUN: R-Retrospect. It is normal to have seasons where you feel God is far away and that everything is working against you. During this time, it is important to count your blessings and remember the times when God came to your rescue, just in time–not early, neither late. U-Uproot. Doubt, fear and anxiety can dampen your faith. Make sure that you don’t just trim this weed but uproot it so that it does not show up again. And this uprooting can only be does when you declare and decree the Word of God in your life, even when things don’t make sense. Yes, weapons will be formed against you, BUT IT WON’T STAND. N-Nourish. Feed your spirit with the Word. It is important to keep your spirit healthy because at the end, only that matters. Your outward emotions and behaviour is a reflection of your inner man. By studying, thinking about, and acting on the Bible on a daily basis, we grow in our faith, learn more about what God wants, and find comfort in His promises. Let’s make it a priority to feed our souls with the valuable and life-giving Word of God, because that’s how we grow spiritually, find meaning in life, and grow closer to our Heavenly Father. |