April 14, 2011
A New Kind of Fruitful
Today’s Truth
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthews 28:19).
Friend to Friend
Those years of infertility were a stormy time in my life, but then, a few years later, a tidal wave hit.
“Steve can you meet me for lunch? I have a little surprise for you.”
I was so excited to meet Steve and tell him this unexpected news that I called him at the office and asked him to meet me for lunch. After several years of infertility treatment, we had become content with our family of three, but now it seemed Steven was going to have a little brother or sister after all.
I handed Steve a tiny wrapped package. He gingerly pulled back the paper and opened the lid to discover a baby pillow nestled in soft white tissue paper.
“Does this mean what I think it means?”
“Yes,” I replied with tears filling my eyes.
My dream was coming true! There would be more children after all. While the baby was growing well inside my womb and the nursery was being planned inside our home, the dream came to a screeching halt. The baby died. I had a miscarriage. It was not the loss of a child that was to be. It was the loss of a child that was. For months I grieved her loss.
There are still times today when I look at the portraits of our family of three and I can almost see the shadow of a fourth. But one day there will come a time when my little girl will not be a mere shadow. I will hold her in my arms. Until then, it gives me great comfort to picture her healthy and whole and playing at the feet of Jesus.
During those summer months following our loss, a friend sang me this song.
God is too wise to be mistaken.
God is too good to b unkind.
So when you can’t understand
When you don’t see His plan,
When you can’t trace His hand,
Trust His heart.
And as the years progressed, God began to show me what it really meant to “Be fruitful and multiply.”
Being Spiritually Fruitful
God fashioned women to be child bearers. Our wombs, breasts, hips, and hormones were uniquely designed for conceiving and giving life. There is an inborn nature to nurture, and while we may not give birth to our own flesh and blood in a delivery room, we can still – must still – be fruitful and nurture those in our sphere of influence.
When God created Adam and Eve, He commanded them to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it;” (Genesis 1:28 NASB). In the New Testament, we see another kind of fruitfulness as Jesus sent out the disciples. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,” (Matthews 28:19). He could have said, “Be fruitful and multiply,” which is exactly what they did.
Think for a moment about why little girls want to grow up and become mommies. We want to cuddle and care for, rear and raise, share and shape, teach and train. We want to pour our love into another human being in the hopes that they will give that same love in return.
God has created women with a desire to nurture, but I think it goes much deeper than just having children. Most long to invest their lives in something that matters. Most of the time, that something is other people. The Bible calls that being fruitful. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit,” (John 15:5). He also tells us that the true sign of a Christian is that he or she will bear fruit (John 15:8).
Sometimes when our dreams of motherhood are shattered, we have to let them die and allow God to birth other dreams in our lives. As Dr. Pamela Reeves wrote inParables of the Forrest, it is as if He is saying to us, “When you are letting go, remember that I am planting seeds of new life in you. Your grief is only for a season. My end is not death. It is always life. I am the author of life.” Whether it is the dream of having one child, the dream of having seven children, or the dream that a child will turn out a particular way, we must all eventually give that dream to God.
“Be fruitful and multiply.” That is something every child of God can do!
Let’s Pray
Dear God, I am overwhelmed with joy today! Thank You for allowing me to be a spiritual mother. Open my eyes to those whom You would have me birth into the Kingdom and those whom You would have me nurture into maturity. What an honor! What a privilege!
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Who is God leading you to nurture? I bet she’s praying for a spiritual mother to come along.
Who is your spiritual mother? Who is the woman who stirred up the desire to know Christ in your heart? I’d love to know about her. Let’s share at www.facebook.com/sharonjaynes. And while you’re at it, why not forward this devotion along to her as a way of saying “Thanks.”
More from the Girlfriends
Today’s devotion was taken from Sharon’s new book, 5 Dreams of Every Woman and How God Wants to Fulfill Them(a new revised version of her previous book, Dreams of a Woman). This book is for every woman whose life hasn’t turned out like she dreamed it would…and I think that includes most of us. Can you risk the hope that God still has dreams for your life? That He hasn’t forgotten you? Place your hand firmly in His--take a deep breath, and begin the exciting journey to a place you thought you’d never find: the dream God planned for you all along. Let’s dare to dream again!
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