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| Testimony of God's Faithfulness (Part Two) |
IC: With so much expectation, my wife and I started our journey, and the count. One, two, three, four, five…. Now the question is, ”what is this count referring to?” Well, it was multi-dimensional. It refers both to number of “almost there, but never there”, and “miscarriages and years of marriage.” Before we knew what was going on, we had gone through six miscarriages in 5 years of marriage. Each one was very painful, but the most painful was losing what would have been a set of triplets, one after another over a three weeks period. Each time we lose a pregnancy, the doctor would perform post clean up tests, trying to see if there was a medical reason for the miscarriage, but none was forthcoming. At some point I started praying they identify a problem, and hopefully, that the problem would have a medical solution. When I had an opportunity to travel to Houston, for training, I took my wife along. I used the opportunity to engage specialists at the Women’s Hospital of Texas. A thorough medical examination of my wife was done, but nothing “concrete” came out of it.
IC: Spiritually, we had our hearts in the right place and had our Pastor backing us up all the way. We fasted and prayed, sowed seeds, exercised our faith in so many areas and believed God that He would come through for us. Our Pastor even once facilitated a meeting for my wife with a much revered spiritual leader of our generation in an attempt for a breakthrough. We thought that’s it. This Man of God has undiluted access to the heavens. And, sure this would guarantee immediate answer to our prayers, but God knew best. He was going to do it in His time, and in a way that His glory would not be shared with anybody. We didn’t know this. It was difficult and at times hopeless. At some point we got tired of hearing “it is well.” As positive as our profession of faith was, things were not well. We were getting old and we knew it. The pressure was coming from left, right and center. I knew I needed to shield my wife from family pressure, and by God’s grace, I did just that. “Once there is life, there is hope”, the saying goes. We had life and decided not to lose hope.
IC: As challenging as the personal aspect of my life was for the first five years of marriage, things could not have been better for me on my professional side. My career was going in a way and at a pace I never dreamt of. Due to this, things were enviably so good at work people never knew I had major issues. I lived a compartmentalized life. I, literally, left my disturbing personal issues in the car, at the office parking lot, each morning. I chose not to take any of those issues to the office. At the end of the day, back in the car, I could put the “personal issues cap” back on. My view was, it was bad enough for things not to be going my way on the personal side. My career stability was an enabler for surviving it. As such, allowing my personal side to affect my focus and performance on the professional side would be disastrous. I was not ready for such.
Akin: Wow! God never fails to leave us with some light, some ray of hope, so we can bear the season. Wow! We will pick up from here next week.
Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out. (1 Corinthians 10:13, GNT)
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