Hey there, sweet sister. Can we chat for just a second? I am not sure what brought you to this article, but my guess is that perhaps you are struggling with infertility? I mean, why else would you click on the link, right? And so my next guess is that you are tired of dealing with it. And you are tired of getting knocked down. And feeling defeated. So I thought maybe we could chat…ya know…one infertility sister to another. Because like you, I am OVER IT! I am over the negative pregnancy tests. I am over the doctor appointments. I am over the symptoms of PCOS. I am over being attacked! Yes, that’s right. Attacked. Because whether you like it or not, whether you feel it or not, or whether you believe it or not, you…me…we are under attack. There is a real enemy plotting and scheming against us. His name is Satan. And his mission? To steal, kill and destroy our hopes. Our dreams. Our relationships. Our bank accounts. He wants to make us feel alone and unworthy. He wants to whisper to the both of us the lie that our situations are impossible of ever-changing, and that God has forgotten the desires He has placed in our hearts. Or worse, punishing us for something we have done, or not done. And sweet sister, did I mention I was over it? Because I am.
This battle of infertility we are facing isn’t just a physical battle–it’s a spiritual one too. But if you are guilty like me, you spend far too much time and energy fighting the physical aspect. And it’s normal. It’s natural. It’s human nature.
But you know? It’s also a strategy of the enemy. Because did you know that he doesn’t have any spiritual weapons? He only has physical ones. This is why he likes to shift your focus by getting you to spend all of your time and attention on things that are physical and visible with the eye. He knows that if we actually started fighting him with weapons that would undeniably wreck his agenda and cut him off, he looses. And you? Well, you win.
His sneaky strategy reminds me of a story I read in the best-selling book, Fervent. The story goes something like this:
At an annual trunk-or-treat festival, a man connected a large, flat, wooden table onto the side of his truck. He cut six medium-sized holes in it and draped a cloth over the top. Sticking up through the holes was a family of wiggly hand puppets. Children stood in line in order to climb into the bed of the truck and try to bop the puppets on the head with a big, cushy hammer before the puppets ducked and disappeared down into the hole and out of sight.
Whack-a-Mole at it’s finest!
One little guy, however, got tired of waiting so he got out of line and strolled around to the side of the truck. There he decided to grab a handful of that curtain and yank it clear off the surface. Suddenly, instead of six cute puppets playing and dancing in the air, there were three grown adults with both arms poking up through the bare wood.
Their identities revealed.
What is the point of this cute story? It is this: There is always something you can’t see working underneath the surface, controlling and manipulating what you can. In fact, this is exactly what apostle Paul tries to tell us in Ephesians when he says that our struggle is not against flesh and blood (what we can see), but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (what we can’t see). Therefore the identity of your real enemy isn’t infertility, it’s him.
It’s all him. It’s always been him.
Sweet sister, it’s time we start pulling back the curtain, exposing his lies, and going to war. It’s time we rise up and go into the enemy’s camp and take back what it is he has stolen from us. And it’s time we do so in prayer. James 5:16 says this: The fervent (passionate) prayer of a righteous man (someone who trusts in the Lord) availeth much. Prayer is a powerful weapon that can get things done. It is what engages the Lord into our battles. It’s the portal for which His blessings flow. And it’s the vehicle for which He uses to drive power into our lives.
But I am not talking about the mamby-wamby kind of prayer that wouldn’t even blow the fuzz off a peach. I’m talking about the type of prayer James mentions…the ones that are fueled with passion.
The kind that when your favorite television show comes on you ignore it because your knees are plastered to the floor.
And the kind of passion that causes you to get up even before the sun rises in order to plead your case before the Lord.
It’s the kind of passion that causes you to burn the midnight oil as you stay up past your bedtime because you are too busy reminding the devil and his plans that they can go back to hell where they came from.
It’s also the kind of prayer that doesn’t give up, give in, or shrink back just because an answer doesn’t come immediately. Because that is another strategy of the enemy. He wants to use time against you in order to limit your prayers because he knows better than anyone that your prayers will limit him.
Sweet sister, it’s time we step up our game. It’s time we not only look at this battle of infertility as a physical one, but rather a spiritual one as well. It’s time our battle wounds aren’t just needles from shots and blood work, but calloused knees from all night prayer sessions. Now is not the time to play nice with the enemy, or view prayer as an after thought, something we do with very little meaning, or with little to no confidence that it will actually make a difference.
This is war.
And if we want to see change…if we want to step into our destinies…if we want to send the enemy packing…then we need to start fighting with weapons that he can’t defend himself with. So are you with me? If not, then move out of the way. Cause I am over it. I’m over him. And I’m going to war.
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