Friday, January 21, 2011

'Be thou the mother of thousands of millions and let thy seed possess the gate...'

Oh, the joy they bring! And, they prepared this all on their own!

What does the Bible say about having children?   Ooohh, don't grit your teeth too hard, don't gringe at the thought ;).  Do we care?  Do we think about this, or 'conveniently' pass the topic up, or just ignore the subject?  Is this something that we are taught about or is this subject left out of our teachings?  Recently, I have picked up a book that I read about 7 years ago called, 'Be Fruitful and Multiply'.  It is more of a Bible study.  We have 4 children in our home right now and I can't imagine not having another.  In the meantime, I really wanted to study again what the Lord has to say about the matter of blessing marriages with children, and once again, I was so encouraged.  Did you know that fruitfulness is God's blessing?  It is the first and highest blessing that God gives to marriage!  Read Genesis 1:28--God blesses Adam and Eve and commands them to be fruitful and multiply.  I then began to just look up all of the scriptures that talk about blessings and children.  I will just list the references:

Genesis 9:1,2,7  Genesis 17:15-17  Genesis 17:20  Genesis 22: 17-18  Genesis 24:60  Genesis 28:1-3  Genesis 30:13  Genesis 48: 3,4  Genesis 49:25  Leviticus 26: 3,9  Deuteronomy 1:10-11  Deuteronomy 7:12-16  Deuteronomy 13:17  Deuteronomy 28:1-10  Deuteronomy 33:24  Deuteronomy 28:63  Deuteronomy 30:5  1 Chronicles 26:4-5  Job 42:12-15  Psalm 107:38  Psalm 115:12-15  Psalm 127:3-5   Psalm 128  Isaiah 51:2  Jeremiah 30:19  Luke 1:28,31

Can you believe how many references there are?  And, after reading all of those we can see that conception is a result of God's blessing in our lives.  When God says 'I want to bless you,' our response is often , 'thank you Lord for the new house, or thank you for a car, that will be wonderful.' But then God says, 'hold on, I want to bless you with a little baby...I want more godly offspring.' At this point, are we open and willing to receive the blessing?  Or, do we reject this blessing? 
  I know it is not always a cake walk having children, let alone 4 or even more.  And, when I think about it sometimes, especially right after a new baby arrives, I think, 'man, can I really do this again?'  Then,  as time goes by, and the challenges of postpartum, new routines, etc... go, my heart just melts again.  And, like this moment, I think, how can I even begin to trust myself over God? I have trusted myself way too long, and that is when I realized I was totally destroying my life.  I finally surrendered my LIFE to him, does that allow me to hold on to my reproduction capabilities?  'Can I please just be in charge of that God?  I will give you the rest of my life.'  There is really no way around it for me.  I can't biblically back up 'not' having more children.   Do you believe this is something we should ask the Lord about?  
  And, then you have the whole Psalm 127:4-5 talking about 'arrows' in the hands of the mighty, etc... If you study all of the scriptures about arrows(and, I won't bore you with the references, but they are there) we realize that arrows don't just happen overnight. It takes hours and hours of patiently working to straighten and sharpen an arrow so that it will hit the mark. God has called us to this task.  He wants us to be arrow sharpeners! The more 'straight arrows' we prepare, the more arrows to help God fulfill His plan on earth.  I will quote Nancy Campbell, the author of 'Be Fruitful and Multiply', 'Unless you are a warrior, you cannot train warriors. Unless you understand the battle, how can you have a vision to raise 'arrows'."  Do we understand the battle?  I am trying to gain a better understanding.  Lord, show us more of the battle plan so that we can continue to walk it out in love and with patience and perseverance.
  In reference to the Bible, 'arrows' were for war!  Satan hasn't forgotten God's word.  He knows that if he can limit us, he will limit the light that will expose darkness. He will limit truth that will expose deception.  He will limit the 'arrows' that will destroy His work!!!  I just don't see how we, as Christians, can get around these truths found in the Word.  I would love to hear you comments concerning this subject.  Please give me your feedback and let's study this out together.  What about birth control?  What are your thoughts?  Think of the lights that would be living on every street...think of the arrows exposing darkness.  Of course, I am not saying this theory is fact, but it is food for thought, and very important food at that.  (**about our 'arrows'.  I cannot imagine life without each and every one of them.  The joy they bring, the laughter, the purging of my own sinful nature- oh, how they are used by God to get my nastiness out!  And, how can I resist the others God has?  They are so precious.)

How could I say 'no'?
On a more relaxed note, we just got back from the most amazing vacation!  The children, John, and I both had such a blessed time!  God is so good and continues to care for us, lead us, and well, I just love Him!  It was awesome. A break from the daily tasks of life, everyone needs it, and the morale around the home is so exciting!  I cannot wait to see you all in America.  It is going to be so much fun.  John and I are looking so forward to spending the summer there, baseball, swimming, cook-outs, camping, and most of all, lots and lots of love and fellowship from our dearest family and friends.

Be blessed and please give me some feedback. You DO know that this is my 'hanging' out time with you all, right?  So, grab a cup of tea/coffee and pull up your chair and tell me your thoughts on this all. Just act like I am across the table ;).

Sandy

6 comments:

  1. This is an incredible article and I agree 100%. Did I obey God in this - no, and it makes me sad that I did not know these truths. I am so thankful that you are seeing these truths. I sense the heart of God speaking through you. We want to obey God in most of our choices most of the time, but this is an area that we as Americans have not allowed God to guide us. I feel that it is very sad that we have not heard and obeyed God's heart on this issue. I am very thankful that you and John are hearing the heart of God on this. Love you, mom

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  2. Hey there BFF~ I love what you said about "Lord show us more of the battle plan"...do we really want to go to battle with a small army? No way, not me! It is so easy to lose focus and be worn down with the constant criticism of the world, and this is why we so desperately need people with the same heart to encourage us when it gets hard! I love you so much and am so so so thankful for your beautiful heart! You inspire me to be a better mother, you always have! You are the one who has taught me to really LOVE on my children, to affirm them and shower them with kind, loving words, especially in front of others. You have such a gift for sharpening your arrows... thank you for sharing your heart! I love you!

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  3. Sandy I remember when God spoke to me about surrendering my life ALL my life. I told God oh no not kids, not me, I am not right for the job...Have you met me God? God kept me awake for days about it. I mean really He would not let my mind rest and so I did not sleep. I finally said ok God I will make you a deal..don't do anything to me until you change my heart. I was terrified but stopped taking birth control pills after 12 years straight. Two years later I was the one at the alter asking God to give me my baby, crying in the bathroom when another month went by. Talk about a change in heart. Now three beautiful, wildly funny kids later I said ok thanks I done right? So were not having anymore. I am both glad (cause its a lot of work!) and heartsick at the same time. I think had we not "fixed" the issue we would have more because in hind sight I wonder if I turned my nose up at God's blessing us further. I don't know but I never looked at it as raising God's army before. I just feel like crying now but don't feel bad Sandy its not you I cry when I don't have an answer and I worry I got it wrong. I hate getting it wrong. I thank our merciful Lord for making a way for people who get it wrong! OFTEN!

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  4. Amazing! Preach it sister! Ha ha!
    Really, I am so blessed by this. John Ryan and I have been talking lately about not stopping at our original plan for 5. Our hearts are so invested in raising babies that love God even before they understand who He is. I don't want that to end any time soon. I want ABUNDANT blessing!!! I do feel a conviction in my heart about timing. I have already told God "yes" but I have also told him "not yet". Who am I to decide?! When JR and I first got married we used birth control but the Lord spoke to me about trying to control that area (and many others) of our lives. We let it go and have been trusting since then...that is, until Josiah stopped nursing. Now we "need to be careful". Ummm....what happened to our trust? Ahh! My heart burns for He who created us and I'm so humbled at the thought that he wants to continue to create through John Ryan and I. I say YES again to however many, whenever! Who knows, maybe there will be another little love in my "oven" when you are here. :o)

    Thanks, love! What a great "tea time" with my friend. I love you much!

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  5. Hey Sandy
    As always your blog is powerful and so full of truth. I especially love the part about being a warrior before we can train a warrior. I know that in my own life I did not know how to do that at the time I was raising my children. I would have done things so differently. And there is the issue of the fathers not knowing how to. As a grandparent I have so much more knowledge. You and John are doing what we all needed to know how to do. GO, FIGHT, WIN generations back to God!!! I am praying for yall

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  6. Hi sweet Sandy!

    I so enjoy the expression of God's heart thru your written word. Yesterday, I turned 59. Regretfully, it has taken my husband and I far too long and way too late to realize we should have had more children. So thankful for your obedience to the leading of the Lord.

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