September 18, 2022—To all of the subscribers, and those that read the Coffee of the Cross’s weekly articles, I apologize. Why? Because for seven weeks, I did not write or post articles for the website. However, this article will explain why, but it was also a fulfilled prophecy.
On July 26, 2022, I attended a routine doctor’s appointment, but it resulted in a need for me to be admitted to the hospital. On that night, my husband and I ate our lunch, packed our bags, and we went to the hospital. At the hospital, I was in triage and the nurses, and the doctors were assessing me. When their assessment was finalized, they relocated me, and my mother arrived at the hospital. Our life was about to change forever. As the hours rolled over into a new day, the pain began to set in. Labor was beginning and I would soon meet my first born.
Contractions lasted for twenty hours using a variety of induction methods. While I was dilating properly, my child’s heart rate was dropping extremely low during the stronger contractions. Then, the doctors said a cesarean would need to be considered. I cried immediately. I did not want surgery. I was trying to go through this life without surgeries after I witnessed what surgeries and pain killers did to my mother who has had over a dozen surgeries in her lifetime.
I tried another position, and we thought it would work. My child’s heart rate was back up again, and we thought that the new position would work. However, shortly afterwards, my child’s heart rate plummeted again. About thirty minutes later, I was being rolled into the OR (Operating room).
I was angry at God for I prayed several times for a natural birth. However, I should not have been angry with Him, I should have been angry with myself because I did not listen to Him.
What God Told Me
About four years ago, a man from our church had told me I was going to have a daughter. I said to him “But I do not have any kids.” I cannot recall his response, but it must have been something such as “Oh you will.” At that point, I was new to Christianity, and I had not yet been baptized. I was still in a mindsight where I went along with society’s ways and was not aligned with the paradigm that a Christian should have. When I went home that night, I prayed to God and told Him that I never wanted kids, and my mind was not going to change. I told Him that I always had self-esteem issues and how would I look at a round, pregnant belly and be okay with that. God’s response no matter where I turned the pages in the Holy Bible, was “I will be with you.”
Later that year, I met a German couple who had kids at an early age (early twenties). I asked them what the benefit was to having kids so young. The husband told me “We get to meet our grandchildren.” I had never considered this, but suddenly, I was thinking about it. At the rate I was going, I may not meet my grandkids. I pondered if it was worth having kids. I convinced myself that it was not an important factor. At that point, I was still in the mindset of society’s ways including birth control and women’s rights.
So how did I become pro-children, when my whole life I was absolutely adamant that I would not have kids? Simply put, I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior. When you accept Him as your savior, you are renewed in Christ, and you are changed. The Holy Bible explains it better, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). By accepting Jesus Christ, the direction of my life, and the way I viewed the world completely changed. Over time, babies did not seem so negative, but it did take some time and convincing, and planning (on God’s part).
The Prophecy to My Brother
A few years after I met the German couple, I prophesied to my brother that his wife would become pregnant. A few months later, I got a call from my brother, “You know how you said that my wife would become pregnant?”
“Yes.” I said smiling knowing what he would confirm.
“She is pregnant. You knew before she knew and before I knew. How did you know that?”
I gave my brother a simple response. “God.”
His denial set in at the baby shower six months later, “I think women have a way of knowing these things, because one minister in her family said the same thing.” My brother showed me the woman minister about which he was talking. I told him that I, as a Christian woman, and the minister as another Christian woman both prophesied to him the same thing, and we had never met each other. Did he see that as a coincidence, or something bigger? That view was up to him.
Shortly after the baby shower, their son was born. Three years later, I told my brother that his wife would be pregnant again. When the pregnancy occurred and was confirmed, I got a call from my brother again. Their second son was born seven months later.
While I was spending some time with my nephews and nieces (from both sides of our family), my heart was growing for children, but my old self was still present. I would go down on my knees to pray but would keep my mouth shut. I was about to pray “open my womb” but I was not ready. Before these words could leave my mouth, I would get back up and walk out of the room saying “Nope.” I do not even know if I said, “In the name of Jesus, amen” with what I prayed to God before getting up. Knowing me, I did not. However, the Holy Bible tells us to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). While God’s instructions were given to Adam, it still carries down to the rest of us because God made us, and we descend from the very first human beings that God created.
As I was getting older, I noticed what I was missing, and finally prayed to God about opening my womb. I prayed for a boy, but also said to God to let His will be done. As the months passed, and I was not getting pregnant, I was beginning to think that my husband or I were infertile. We were married for five years and still no pregnancy. It was then that I figured if it happens it would, and if not, then oh well. I kept praying, until one day I finally stopped.
My Pregnancy
One morning in October 2021, I made coffee for my husband and me. It was a typical day. We got ready for work and went on our way. I poured a cup of coffee for myself drank it and I walked down the hall to my home office for a remote job at which I was just hired. I had not slept enough the night before and poured a second cup of coffee for myself.
When I went to drink it, I heard God say, “I would not drink that if I were you.” I thought to myself, “Why shouldn’t I drink it? Am I pregnant?” I had a craving the week before for something I had not eaten in quite some time. The pregnancy seemed possible, but I had not missed my period yet. I drank the second coffee despite God’s warning. Later that week, I officially missed my period. I went out and got a pregnancy test. I took one test, and it was positive. Nine months later, my first born came into the world and the prophecy from that man at church was fulfilled.
Babies in the Holy Bible
God knows us before we are even born, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” In the Holy Bible, many different pregnancies and births are discussed. While all the births were a blessing, some of the pregnancies came out of sinful ways. An example of this was Tamar disguising herself as a prostitute and sleeping with her father-in-law in order to conceive. This was after the death of his sons whom she had married. You can read about Tamar in Genesis 38.
Other pregnancies were a blessing, like Isaac who was born to Abraham when Abraham was 100 years old, and his wife was 90 years old (Genesis 17). After much time had passed, Rachel had finally bore Joseph, and he is one of tribes of Israel. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, brought to Egypt, imprisoned while in Egypt but rose to power over the land by God’s blessing through the pharaoh’s hand (Genesis 41). Samuel was another blessing, as his mother constantly prayed to have a son and even promised him to the temple. Eventually she bore Samuel and he became a prophet and ministered before the Lord.
However, of all the pregnancies in the Holy Bible, the most well known is Mary who as a virgin and gave birth to Jesus Christ. As stated in Matthew 1:23, Jesus’s birth fulfilled a prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall His name Immanuel.” You may ask, “How can a virgin conceive a child?” Through the mercy, and forgiveness of the Lord our God, who sent the Holy Spirit to Mary so that she could conceive even though she was a virgin (Luke 1:35).
Your next question may be why did God send Jesus Christ in the first place? God saw that no person on the earth could keep from sin. Sin is an abomination to God, and before Jesus Christ was crucified, people had to sacrifice animals to pay the price of sin. In Romans 6:23, Paul tells us that, “the wages of sin is death.” When Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, He paid our debt for our sinful behaviors. Therefore, we read in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was the price of sin, and proof of God’s love for us.
Accepting Jesus
Are you ready to accept Jesus Christ as your savior? Say this prayer:
God, I confess that Jesus came in the flesh and blood, paid the price for my sins, died on the cross, rose on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sent the Holy Spirit to help me understand Your ways. For that, I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord, and I welcome the Holy Spirit in my life. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen!
May God bless you in the name of Jesus, and may I welcome you to the Christian family. Amen.
Comments