Guest Post : Waiting for Baby Bird

I’m very excited to have Elisha from Waiting for Baby Bird guest posting today. Shortly after finding each others blogs, a friendship was formed. After several e-mail exchanges and several phone dates later, it was evident the Lord placed us in each others lives for a reason. I have been so encouraged by her faith and knowledge and she has been a constant source of encouragement to me. We have so much in common that we call each other twins. The Lord is leading her on her path to blessing her with a natural baby and I can’t wait to celebrate the day of her positive test!!! When I received her post below, I was so excited to see the topic as it’s something I’m so passionate about too. She, as always, just conveys the message so much better than I could. It was such a blessing and wonderful reminder for me to read it and I hope you will be blessed by her post as welll! Thanks Elisha for this wonderful post!

There are a few things you should know about me: I love Jesus, organizing (I would probably label my label maker if no one would laugh), random topics of conversation, drinking coffee (but ONLY in the morning), reading, cooking for others, sunbathing, eating bologna sandwiches with taco Doritos smashed on top, and listening to my husband talk about engineering for hours upon hours (oh wait, there is a bit of sarcasm on that last one). I have been married to my wonderful husband for seven amazing years and we yearn for a baby bird to come and fill our cozy nest; however due to PCOS and some rotten eggs, we are “challenged” in the fertility department. It has been 26 months since we started on this infertility path that has been full of bumps, twists, turns and surprises, and it has been 18 months since I quit seeking fertility treatments and surrendered myself and my situation over to God (if you need some new “bathroom material” you can read our full story here at my blog “waiting for baby bird”).

I‘m Expecting

Until I had fully surrendered everything over to God, I often found myself tired and worn out physically and spiritually. I felt defeated, and whether or not I wanted to admit it, I was angry with God and I felt like He had abandoned me. I often questioned why this was happening to me and I questioned why He was allowing it to happen at all. During this time I would often say I was praying in hope, but my hope was not really hope at all. The kind of hope I used to have could be described like me standing at a wishing well. I would throw my prayers up to God and ask Him to fulfill my desire to be a mother with the hope and expectation that He might answer, He might hear, or He might come to my rescue. But true hope, hope that is defined in the Bible, is to have a confident and positive expectation of good to happen. There is no“might“, “maybe”, or “will He or won’t He”. It wasn’t until I made the choice to switch from “wishing well” hope, to true hope, that my attitude towards my situation of infertility changed. I no longer see the impossible but the possible. I can see myself as a happy mother of children that is healed, restored, made whole and living the abundant life that Jesus died to give me. I have been able to go from praying and then wondering if God would do anything, to me praying and expecting God to do even more than I could ask.

Each prayer is filled with hope as I wait in expectation that any day, and at any moment, good will come my way, and my situation will change suddenly. Each morning I wake up saying prayers filled with expectation. Prayers such as, “God, I am expecting to be amazed and in awe of all of the great things You will do today.” I go into each new cycle with the anticipation and excitement that despite the fact that my circumstances do not look any different, God can and will change everything around for me in the blink of an eye. This type of hope and expectation brings me joy and peace that only God can give.

Before I made the switch to praying with hope, I often didn’t have a positive and confident expectation that God would answer, and I often refused to pray for certain things because I was so afraid of “getting my hopes up” and then being let down.

How important is it to pray with expectation? James 1:6-7 (NLT) highlights the importance of having a confident and positive expectation (hope) that good will happen when we pray. Scripture says, “But when you ask (God), be sure that you really expect Him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” This verse basically says that if we want to receive anything from the Lord, then we must not have a doubtful mind, but rather one that is full of expectation that He will answer.

When you pray, are you standing at the “wishing well?” Or are you fully confident and waiting with a positive expectation that God hears you and will answer you? Having hope in the midst of heartache, disappointment, and challenging situations is a choice. When studying the word hope in the Bible, I noticed that many psalms begin with the author crying out to God in desperation and despair, but often by the end of the psalm, the author is praising and thanking the Lord in advance for all that He will do for him. What happened in the intervening time? Nothing; except that the psalmist chose to expect God to act on His behalf.

An excellent example of this is Psalm 42:9-10 (TLB) which says, “‘O God my Rock,’ I cry, ‘why have you forsaken me? Why must I suffer these attacks from my enemies?’ Their taunts pierce me like a fatal wound; again and again they scoff, ‘Where is that God of yours?'” But the next and final verse says, “But O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise Him for all that He will do. He is my help! He is my God!” Expecting God to act on our behalf shows the Lord that we truly believe in Him and His Word.

I can’t guarantee that if you expect a certain answer each time you pray that you will always get what you ask of Him. But I can guarantee you this, if stop standing at the “wishing well” and start praying all of your prayers with a confident and positive expectation (with hope), then your percentage of answered prayers will increase dramatically. I have seen it in my life and in the lives of many others. In addition, I can also guarantee from experience that when you put your hope in God and wait in expectation, then you will experience peace and joy that you would not have otherwise.

Is your hope in God? After you say your prayers, are you waiting in expectation for Him to answer and turn your situation around at any moment? What situation in your life do you need God to change? Whether it is conceiving a child, healing in your body or of a broken heart, a financial breakthrough, restoration of your marriage, or a new job, I encourage you to wait in expectation because “The Lord is good to those who hopefully and expectantly wait for Him.” (Lamentations 3:25 AMP).

Be expectant! God loves to answer hopeful, expectant, and faith fulled prayers!