“All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit.”
                                                      – Isaiah 44:9
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”  - Exodus 20:3-6

They finally found the freedom they had prayed for.  Miracle upon miracle happened, and as they looked back and watched the soldiers wash away in the sea, they could breathe for the first time.  Now the Israelites could finally start the journey to the Promised Land.  Surely, very little time separated them from everything God had promised them.

" I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.  I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey." - Exodus 3:7-8b

All they had to do was run this final race and persevere with all focus on God's faithfulness.  But the distance was long.   The days turned into weeks and the weeks to months.  Still no sign of what God had promised them.  The sun of the desert scorched their bodies.  Food was scarce, enemies attacked and hope seemed all but lost.  Grumbling grew amongst the people.  Time and time again, as things seemed all but lost, provision was given.  But that wasn’t enough.  They wanted to see the end, and God's miracles were lost in their short-sidedness.  Maybe God was a farce after all and His redemption wasn’t waiting for them.  Perhaps, they thought, it was time to look for hope in something else.  Their impatience took hold of their logic, and they fashioned idols from gold they gathered while Moses left them again to go talk to this so-called "God."

What happened next was heartbreaking.  Three thousand lives were taken as a penalty for this act and then a plague fell upon the people.  Decades of wandering in the desert passed before the people would finally see the land God had for them.  They lost sight of the promise, quit the race and focused instead on their wants and desires in the here and now.  They took matters into their own hands, and those hands left them wandering in the desert for 40 years.

How many times have we turned to idols to get the happiness we think we deserve now?  We think money will buy the house we deserve or the clothes we crave.  Perhaps that piece of pie will make me feel better.  Some of us may think that if we just earn the love of our loved ones, we will feel significant and complete.  Flirting with the guy at the gym might make us feel like we exist when our spouses don’t seem interested in us anymore.  Having another child might finally make me feel important.  If I reach this goal or get that promotion, I will finally feel like somebody.

The problem with all of these things is that if we continue to rely on them to provide us with our needs, they will ALL eventually let us down.  Why?  Because there is only ONE who can sustain us, make us feel loved fully, and bring us contentment – God.  Idols may bring us temporary fulfillment, but they cannot carry us for the long term.  When we make something an idol, we are sinning.  Sin always has consequences.  More than likely, those consequences will spill over to those we love and can be the death of so much good.  Marriages crumble.  Families fall apart.  Feelings of worthlessness overwhelm us.  Suddenly, that short term happiness has long term effects that can destroy us.

The good news is that you have a chance to put an end to this.  Place your hope in the Lord, our source of goodness, love and hope.  He will never forsake us or lead us in the wrong direction.  He will lead us to the waters we panteth for.  He will nourish us and fill us with everything we need. 

“The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.” – Psalm 147:11

So, my friends, I encourage you to put down the idols you are holding onto tightly and run to the Lord.  Run faster than you have ever run before.  He is standing there, waiting to wrap his arms around you.  You just need to let go and run.


Written by Ginny.

I've {Vickibeth} struggled about writing on this topic...I'm 26. I've been married for just over 2 years. We have barely talked about starting a family. I hesitate to talk about this painful subject because I can't relate, not really. But God kept pressing this on my heart, so I want to talk about this difficult topic, not from a "I can relate" position, but from a "I love and care about you, and the sadness in your heart makes my heart hurt" position. I absolutely will not pretend like I have the answers or even a good handle on the many different situations surrounding infertility, but I do know without a doubt these two things: 1. YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS STRUGGLE and 2. YOU HAVE A HEAVENLY FATHER WHO IS WALKING THROUGH THIS TRIAL WITH YOU.

 First of all, you truly aren't alone through this struggle. I say that through personal experience with the many friends I have struggling, and I say it through clinical documentation. See, I work for a company that deals solely with women's health, specifically infertility. Did you know that 1 in 6 couples in the US are struggling right now to conceive? Did you catch that!? 1 in 6. That's a crazy number. It also means that in a group of 100 couples, 17 of those couples are struggling right now. You are literally walking the church hallways, the work cafeteria line, the park sidewalk with women who are struggling right now the exact same way you are. You aren't the only couple in your town or church, probably not even in your extended family! 

Because of where I work, I have many friends confide in me about their struggle. It's shocking how many couples are having difficulty conceiving. And you know what they all tell me? “I am so alone in this.” “I don’t know anyone else who is struggling like we are to build our family.” “Noone knows how painful this is.” It breaks my heart to see the pain that these women try to hide because for some reason, we have allowed the topic of infertility to be “hush hush” in our circles and these incredible women are left feeling alone, wallowing in pain that seems unbearable each month when the pregnancy test is negative….again…for the 46th month in a row. That’s a deep pain that many women have never known.

 But, as in every difficult circumstance, there is Someone who does understand your pain, who does see the tears shed in secret. God promises to never forsake us. He is with us in every moment of every day—the fun, joyful moments, and the faith-shaking, painful moments. God knows when you’re emotionally deplete and all you can do is the “ugly cry.” He knows the days that you wake up with big puffy eyes because you cried for hours the night before because you did not conceive this month...again. He knows. Jeremy Camp sings an incredible song that speaks so perfectly to this truth. Please take a minute and listen to this song, I’m telling ya, it’s perfect.  He Knows-Jeremy Camp

 Psalms 56:8 “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”

 There’s not a tear that escapes your eye that God doesn’t see and care about. I cry a lot. I’m very emotional J I find incredible comfort in this verse. My tears aren’t “silly” to my God. His heart hurts when we hurt.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 Infertility is a difficult, painful journey, but take comfort, dear friend, that God will give you the grace and strength to press on. Paul endured so well all of the trials he faced. That wasn’t because he was a super human who had these crazy skills that you and I are just too common to possess! Rather, he endured well because his faith and focus were on Christ. If you can keep Christ at the center of your life, even through this painful journey, I believe wholeheartedly, that your faith will be stronger.

I Peter 6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various [a]trials, 7 so that the [b]proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which [c]is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

 I want to encourage those who just want to be called “Momma.” Those who cry the whole way home from every single baby shower attended. Being a mother is such a beautiful, honorable, Biblical desire, and I don’t know why God isn’t granting your prayers for a child. I can’t help but think of Hannah. The Bible says she prayed for a child “year after year.” She had to have been emotionally exhausted by this long struggle, but she believed that God could answer her prayers, so she continued to pray. She believed that God hadn’t forgotten about her. She knew she wasn’t alone. And you aren’t alone either! Not physically, not spiritually. Can I encourage you to talk to someone if you are struggling with this issue? Maybe an older woman in your church? Maybe a woman in your bible study group who doesn’t have children either? Having a “friend” through this struggle certainly won’t make it painless, but I think it will definitely encourage you. We all need a praying friend!

Maybe you aren’t struggling, or didn’t struggle, to have a family, can I encourage you to pray for the women around you who are? Whether you know them by name or not, whether you know their diagnosis or not, whether you know the details or not…1 in 6. That means there’s absolutely someone in your circle of friends and family. Would you join me in prayer for these dear women who are literally all around us?

Father, today I lift up to you the many women who are in my personal circle who are struggling to conceive. You know their hearts desire, and for an unknown reason, you are not granting their request right now. I pray that you would give them peace and comfort on this journey. I pray that you would show them your love clearly and vividly. I pray that you would send women to speak words of truth and comfort into their lives to remind them that they are not alone. I know that you can heal all diagnoses. I ask you to work in these women’s bodies, and if it be your will, that you would grant these dear women the desire of their heart, to be a mommy. I ask this, believing that you absolutely can touch these wombs and allow these women to conceive. I thank you that you are good, no matter the circumstances. Give us peace as we strive to serve you even on the hard days. Thank you for loving us. Amen.

 I {Toi} was at the grocery store a while back looking over a fresh crop of strawberries.  These strawberries were plumped and blemished free.  As I went to place a carton in the shopping cart, I noticed they weren't grown in Florida.  
"Oh, no! They're not Florida Strawberries." I said to my girls. 

Observing my hesitation to place them in the cart, my oldest spoke up "Why do they have to be Florida strawberries to taste good? These look delicious."   

I had to laugh at myself because I didn't have a good reason for my belief. For as long as I could remember, I always sought out Florida strawberries and held them in higher esteem. (It sounds crazy now, I know. I totally blame the field trip to a Florida Strawberry farm when I was 4 years old for this belief!)

I had turned my wrong belief into a "doctrine" in my life, by doing so I ignored truth of God's Word found in Acts 10:15  " But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”   NLT

This past Sunday my pastor shared about how  " Revelation often confronts our wrong beliefs." 

Revelation is defined as something revealed or disclosed, especially a striking disclosure, as of something not before realized.
 
Unfortunately, many have wrong beliefs about God, wrong beliefs about how Grace works, and wrong beliefs on how much God loves you and that He has only good intentions for you.  

Some have some wrong beliefs about the Lord's heart and will for you as a woman, and it's holding you back from pursuing Him with all that is in you.

How do we get revelation so that our wrong beliefs may be confronted?  

Pray. Ask the Lord reveal to you through the Holy Spirit the wrong beliefs holding you back. Dig into the scriptures letting the Holy Spirit guide you. Don't be afraid to see guidance from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is here to be our Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby. How awesome is that?!

In the past 3 months a post that I (Lindsey) wrote over a year ago has received so much traffic that it demanded a follow up.  My heart aches as I read the comments from women who are watching their families fall apart and women who are fighting with all they have to save their world.

            I'm not sure what part of this recurring attack on marriage bothers me most. The sanctity of marriage, which Christians are so willing to die over when picketing a gay pride parade, is often neglected when it comes to calling out men and women who are choosing infidelity, career advancement, or personal gain (to name just a few) over honoring their marriage oaths. There is the not-yet-seen impact that these divorces are having on the children involved. Little boys and girls grow up not knowing what security is because their primary example chose the world over the narrow road. Young men and women are being directed toward difficulty in all future relationships because some of the most important people in their lives choose not to teach them about unconditional love. I have also seen, even just within the comments to the first post, how women are drowning so completely in the emotion and struggle divorce always brings that it's next to impossible to see past their own crumbling world. For this reason ministries that desperately need their spiritual giftings are left without people to run them. These women are missing blessings that God wishes to bestow on them. Our own lives are becoming so complicated by the consequences of this world’s sin nature that the weight of the spiritual battles all around us are overlooked and neglected.

            Why are so many pastors and their ministerial staff so quick to focus on the laws this world is putting in place and so quick to be angered by a Supreme Court ruling, yet so silent when they see husbands and wives abandoning their families; daddies and mommies not doing what they are called to do? Where are the signs? Where is the very much-needed intervention? Quite honestly, where are the kicks in the rear, and the loud “What in the world are you doing right now" questions? Why are many of us so scared to call out the people of the church? Why are we so disconnected from people of the church that we are not even in a position to call them out?

            In order to address the issue of divorce and the many other worldly wounds the people of God are allowing to enter in and steal their joy, we must begin building relationships that allow for accountability. Often, our churches are too big--and not necessarily in volume of people, but in modern day practice. Too few are taking the time to build relationships like Jesus had with his disciples. 

We need to feed our hungry. We need to sincerely approach our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to offer heartfelt counsel that is sweet as perfume and incense. We need to be the iron that sharpens iron. We cannot do any of this if we neglect the relationship building that Christ taught us was the only way to a person’s heart. Join me in praying for our Church, our fellow believers, and the relationships of accountability that absolutely must be built if we are to see any change in the frequency and devastation of divorce.

Father God, We come to ask You to place a yearning on our hearts for drastic change.  Give us each a desire to seek out real, deep, emotional contact with one another. Lord, give us the wisdom to see these same desires in those around us. Draw us together as a body of and for Christ. Help us to build relationships that foster emotional attachments that lead to accountability partners, Lord. From there, give us Your words to speak and Your wisdom to share. Help us to become the iron that is needed to sharpen those with whom we develop these relationships. We know, Lord, that unless we move back to the kind of relationships You modeled for us and called us to that we will continue to see the erosion of the church and its people. Today, Lord, I intercede on behalf of all those who are sensing this same need and desire for Your aid and rescue in our time of need.  Rise up an army of believers who are committed to these relationships and to drastic change in the church. Jesus, I ask all of this in Your precious name, Amen.

If you are still a little hesitant, find a friend, someone you trust and take a step of faith and share your dreams, desires and goals.

Now, If you still need another very practical way to sort it all out, my sweet friend and gifted photographer, Alicia, created a planner to help you make sense of  all that crazy stuff in your head so you can see more clearly God’s call in your life through the desires that stir your heart. This planner will help you find that place where your deepest passion and your greatest talents intersect. Then, by writing down your goals, you will more easily find the key elements to get you there so that you can live in the now and not the someday of God’s plan for your life.

Check out the Dream & Goals Planner LINK:   Dream & Goals

And remember......