grateful receiving > fearful taking

 I can't fathom the algorithm that causes it, but in my  "explore" page on Instagram, it's photo after photo of heartbreaking images and reels of women who are trying to conceive. 

There's a snippet in the book The Word gave me to write, about the topic of conception. Having not experienced infertility myself, I cannot personally relate to the grief and suffering that one feels in this trial. As I read it, Rachel asked Leah for the mandrakes (an ancient fertility aid) because she had never conceived. She traded them for a night with her husband (being that Rachel was his favored wife), and it wasn't the one with the fertility aid that got pregnant. I noticed that after this, The Lord gave Leah at least three children before Rachel became pregnant for the first time. Favorite or not, that hurt. 

Then God remembered Rachel and God listened to her and opened her womb.
Then she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. So she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” Genesis 30:22-23

Who enabled her to conceive? Who opened her womb? My sisters...we have forgotten the Authority of our body. And if we are unwilling to yield it to Him, then we might need to confront any idols that are standing up in our way. Because idols cause fear. I hear so many women talking about identifying and getting rid of fear itself, but we really need to look at the root cause if we want to really pull it out of the soil of our beings altogether. 

Idolatry is just seeking and trusting what is visible. Ancient Israel went to literal temples and bowed to literal statues, but it is so much more veiled now. Our idols have descended from theirs, however, and if you test the root of our current philosophical systems, there's ancient idolatry at their roots. The reason this matters is that it is contrary to our absolute trust. Anything that conflicts with our confidence that He Alone is absolutely able to protect, heal and deliver is an idol.

I got to thinking about why Israel would turn aside to these Ba'als ("gods" or "Mighty Ones"), and what The Word offered me is this: It is hard to wait.  How many times in Scripture do you hear "wait on The Lord"? 

The reason for our idolatry is no different than theirs: We are in a hurry to get what we want, and unwilling to wait on the only One who can give it to us without repercussion. 

Idols are works of man's hands. Idols are images. But idols can perform false signs and wonders, because they are backed by demonic forces. 

Israel sought the fertility gods with The Nations (called Gentiles in "New Covenant" writings.) and Yah was angry, because He is the Only Deliverer! He alone can create and protect a being, so why were they acting this way? All prophecies are full of this. Deuteronomy 32 is so convicting if you are able to perceive how this remains true of our generation! This is why 1 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭15 is such a pivotal word from Paul--he is contradicting their tendency to want to go serve at an idol's temple in order to get pregnant, and birth safely. ‬ 

Heirs receive. Orphans take. 

 Getting familiar (another form of the word family) with the Author, The Word, The Living Elohim, I can't find a reason not to trust Him fully. 

“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Jeremiah 7:8-10

If your religion has dual subscriptions to both "Jesus" and "Aesclepius", you can't have faith. Deliverance comes by faith. If we keep a backup plan in case The Lord isn't getting us what we want fast enough, then we are taking out of fear. 

Despite how many "physical" reasons named that folks are not getting pregnant, is it right when believers seek images to get a diagnosis and inject or ingest drugs to manipulate an outcome? Do we see any difference between how we operate around our waiting, than those who do not claim to believe? What these are called by The Lord is "sorcery" and they are fruitless works of darkness. Though we may get "our way" faster, there is always a hidden payment for their help. 

I'm truly grieved for these women who are struggling to conceive. My heart is not cold toward them and when I see their videos and their suffering, I want to cry with them for their pain. But I call upon The Word, that He would open their eyes to His nearness and ability to help, but that they would turn away and yield to the wait.

Waiting is not pointless. It establishes trust that He is Good regardless of how we feel or what we want and haven't gotten. Daily ovulation prediction tests, do they announce "I trust the giver of Life with the fullness of my family!" loud and clear? While I haven't experienced this kind of wait, I have experienced others, some that have really tested my trust in His goodness! What established my heart on the truth that if He desires to make a being, He Will, was getting pregnant when I thought I had things well within my grasp. 

He's waiting on all of us to ask Him only. 

“At that time the seer Hanani came to King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you have depended on the king of Aram, and not depended on Adonai your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. Were not the Cushites and the Libyans a mighty army with many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on Adonai, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of Adonai range throughtout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are wholly His. You have acted foolishly in this matter. Indeed, from now on you will have wars.””

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ 

(See also Saul’s response to a pause in 1 Samuel 13)

This vacillating between two opinions (1 Kings 18) is costing us our faith and even our deliverance from the trials!

The bellows fiercely fan the flames to burn out the corruption. But it does not purify them, for the wickedness remains. Jeremiah 6:29

As The Word trained me in these things, surfacing the placement of my trust during pregnancy, He gave me the metaphor "fighting fires". As long as we take on our problems ourselves, seeking help in our own way, we refuse to look at the reason we've got the fire, and what unfaithfulness He needs to remove.

We cannot call upon two names for help, and get True Power or True Healing.  There is no mixing. The "power" that is over Western Medicine is of Babylon and Egypt, it is demonic. The only reason it was joined to Christianity is that Rome co-opted the "Jewish Messiah", rejected Torah, blended it with their preexisting demonic religions. Formulating a new belief system that could accept both "Jesus" and "Aesclepius". As he (and all other gods mentioned in the Hippocratic oath) are untrustworthy masters, the system itself is subject to death and devoted to destruction. 

If Yeshua is your Deliverer, seek Him.

If Aesclepius/Galen/Hippocrates, then seek them. 

"I swear by Apollo Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture." (First sentence of the Hippocratic Oath)

"Do not have other gods besides Me." Exodus 20:3 

What's the difference between physical medicine/surgery and any other technology that we use? The body is a belonging of The Lord. It is His possession. IF we trust Him with what He created (the life of our beings), we are in the best position to be. The fears that drive us to take what we see as good are coming from an untrustworthy source, and echo Satan to Eve: "Knowledge is power."

“Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one! Deuteronomy 6:4