Heart first, womb second

As we start day one of a month of thanksgiving, I admit this has been a very trying year. Things I thought would happen... didn't. Prayers I longed to see come to pass... unfulfilled. Steps I didn't want to take... awaiting. And still, I'm thankful for all I have learned and for faith to keep believing. I'm thankful for threads of hope that sustain... so many of them given through the kindness of family, friends and even strangers.

A sweet friend sent me Romans 4:18-25 and even though I've come across it many times in my journey with infertility, I was meant to be encouraged and challenged by it in a new way. Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father. Another friend had recently shared the thought that the Lord might be making me into a mother... heart first, womb second. Talk about a truth bomb.

When I hear similar themes like these, I take notice. He's speaking and He sees me. He's not ignorant of my waiting womb. Not ignorant of any of our waiting and wanting godly things in this life. No, He's all-knowingly working in the space between promise given and promise fulfilled. He's working in us... in the meantime.

In the meantime... is where the character is built for what we will become. The lack of outward movement might be an indication God wants your focus to turn inward, to a deep work of the heart. In the MSG version it says Abraham "plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said." Diving deep into what God said, a waiting man was made strong, ready and confident.

If you are waiting in the wilderness, plunge into what God is saying, and engage what He is doing in your heart. You and your destiny are being shaped right now.