I came across one of my “life verses” in my Bible reading this morning.
To me, a life verse is a Scripture passage that carried me through a difficult time, or
perhaps marked a specific encounter with God. The prophet Samuel’s “Stone of
Ebenezer”, which translates to “stone of help” was erected to remind the
Israelites of a time when God did exactly that. And what was once Jacob’s stone
pillow for a night he turned into a memorial to a meeting with God that changed
his life forever.
That’s what 1 Samuel 1:27 is to me.
When Jim and I were first married, we had decided that we weren’t going to bring
children into our union. There was no specific reason; perhaps the fact that
neither of us had a strong desire to have kids was reason enough. We simply
enjoyed our life together and truly enjoyed those early years. But on a Sunday
morning three years in, I suddenly changed my mind. I, too, had a meeting with
God in the church service that morning that birthed in me a sudden desire to give
birth to some kids! I repented of despising what God meant to be a gift and a
blessing and was suddenly very receptive to the idea.
The problem was that Jim was not.
He
reminded me that we had agreed to keep our marriage children-free. “But I changed
my min!” I protested. “I have not,” was his retort.
We could’ve argued and
fought over the issue and destroyed the peaceful harmony in our home to date.
God cautioned me not to go that route. Instead, He would cause Jim to bring the
subject up himself when the time was right. All I had to do was wait.
Two years
of silent prayers went by, and then one day Jim told me he was ready for us to
start a family… only to change his mind by nightfall, saying apologetically that
he still was not in that place. Instead of being angry and frustrated as one
might expect, I was overjoyed and filled with hope! Jim had brought the subject
up on his own, using the words I was waiting for! And although he took them back
mere hours later, I received them as a sign that God was working in the
situation. The only way to describe how I felt at that moment is to quote what
the Bible says about how a woman named Hannah reacted after making a similar
plea before the Lord: “she left and ate something; she was not sad anymore.”
Neither was I! In fact, although it took some time, my story continued to mimic
hers: “Hannah became pregnant, and in time she gave birth to a son.” And it’s
her words again when she gave her boy back to God that have become an “Ebenezer”
in my life: “For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition
which I asked of him” (1 Samuel 1:27 KJV).
I’m so grateful for that memory…and
especially for that child!... again today.
