Numbers Game

This is the devotional I read last night...and today. A lot of times today. It comes from Sarah's Laughter, a site and group that supports women through the struggles of infertility. 

When The Numbers Don't Add Up Now Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men...  2 Chronicles 14:9   Numbers matter so much when you are in the battle to conceive a child.  We watch them, record them, track them. We circle numbers on calendars as we wait for the day of a pregnancy test.  We pray that the numbers our doctors will report to us will go up or down.  A husband’s virility is presumably measured by the number on his sperm count.  Nerves are frayed until we get past a certain number of weeks that remind us of the last miscarriage.  The number of candles on the birthday cake bring tears and dread.  Statistics are dooming numbers when lives are consumed by infertility.   Do you realize that numbers have never intimidated God? There has never been a moment in all of time and eternity that God has scratched His holy head and tried to make the numbers work.  In 2 Chronicles, King Asa was facing a massive army of a million men.  He and his men were outnumbered, overpowered and were facing certain defeat.  Asa did the smartest thing he ever could have done when facing an impossible situation: He called on the Name of the Lord.   “Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us O Lord our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude.  O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.”   Asa recognized that he was no match the enemy in front of him, but that his enemy was no match for his God!  Scripture tells us that God lead the Ethiopian army right in front of Asa and his men, and even though they were bigger and stronger, Zerah’s army fled.  They ran away!  In fact, the Bible says they were “shattered” and Asa and his outnumbered army carried away much plunder.  All because Asa called upon God and relinquished the battled to Him.   God didn’t worry about a million warriors on the battlefield in King Asa’s day.  He doesn’t worry about low sperm counts or erratic hormone levels in your day.  He is the God who can conquer whatever foe you face, and He can do it despite whatever numbers you are struggling with. When you pray about your battle with infertility, don’t forget that God isn’t scared of your numbers.  Why not use King Asa’s prayer as an example?  You can include your own situations and pray with the same faith this godly man used when he was outnumbered and overwhelmed.  God came through for him and He’ll come through for you. “Lord, there is no one beside You to help in the battle. Infertility (or endometriosis, unexplained infertility, PCOS, miscarriage grief, etc.)  is a powerful foe and I feel I have no strength (or money, or treatment options, etc.) to fight it this month (or today, right now, anymore, etc.); so help us O Lord our God, for we (my spouse and I, or I if you have an unbelieving spouse) trust in You, and in Your name have come against this disease (or financial difficulty, discouragement, lack of agreement between us, indecision, etc.).  O Lord, You are our God.  Let not infertility (or loss, grief, discouragement, etc.) prevail against You." Talk about perfect timing, huh? Now is a good time to tell you that my progesterone is back up to 20 and we saw a beautiful, healthy baby today. We have officially graduated from Dr. Dorsett and get to move on to our regular OBGYN! This baby is so very lucky to have been prayed for so very fervently and steadfastly. This baby is a miracle in so many ways and a lot of the miracle is because of the unceasing prayers landing in heaven. Thank you, thank you, thank you.