HE CALLS THINGS THAT ARE NOT AS IF THEY ARE
When Jacob was 18-months-old, he received a cochlear implant. We wondered if it would work, if he’d be able to hear, to understand, and speak. We prayed fervently that he would be able to successfully do all those things. We prayed he’d defy the odds and be very smart, despite the discussions from doctors that he’d probably have slowed cognitively abilities due to his profound deafness. We prayed that he’d do well in school, and we worked for and prayed for the day he would be in a regular classroom. We were also told that he could not play on little tikes plastic slides or any other electric-static equipment (ball-tents, etc.), as he may receive an electric shock that would knock him unconscious. So, my mother watched Jacob frequently. She lived in townhomes in Norcross, GA at the time. Across the street was a grass field next to a graveyard.
Today, Gwinnett School of Math and Science Technology (GSMST), the nation’s #3 top high school, stands proudly where an empty grass field once existed near an old graveyard. Jacob is a freshman at GSMST and excelling! Only God can call things that are not as if they are. Only God can take doubt and the ensuing death of dreams that exist with it and defy all odds! How many times did I drive passed that grass field and graveyard praying that God would speak His Word to Jacob and tell him wise and unsearchable things that he did not know (Jeremiah 33:3)– that he’d be smart, that he’d hear, that he’d talk and that he’d be in a regular class room? Countless. And today, God has far exceeded any requests that I offered up to Him with an Ephesians 3:20 response. God has done exceedingly more than I asked or believed Him for.
Today, as I continue to seek God for His will and provision for all things from small to huge, I am reminded of His faithfulness in the midst of deafness. God takes families from profound deafness to a place of profound hope. Be encouraged. God hears your prayers today and He answers in His way, in His time from on High.
Ro 4:16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
Ro 4:17As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Ro 4:18Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Kristina Seymour loves to encourage and equip women through the Word and through community. She is the author of The Warrior Mom Handbook, The Warrior Mom Leadership Manual, and The Warrior Wife Handbook; they are available at Amazon.com. Kristina's Bible studies are for women who desire to live by faith in the midst of their everyday lives. She has learned that women can't survive on caffeine and animal crackers alone; women in the Word and in community are united and able to stand firm. To learn more about Kristina, please visit her website, https://kristinaseymour.com/. God loves to share His story of love and grace through us all, and Kristina believes that everyone has a story to tell.
Originally published Tuesday, 24 April 2018.
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