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If God has a different schedule

When God leads us down paths that don't fit our expectations, we quickly tend to rebel. We compare ourselves to others and believe we deserve the fulfillment of our desires. Sometimes God makes us wait. Then it's up to us how we use that time. And sometimes God allows us to experience a miracle.

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, it is very important to me to speak about trusting in God through firm faith in the Lord in our Christian families. For even today, God performs great miracles in our families. Psalm 37:5 also promises: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”

Just recently, after we had said evening prayers, our little daughter asked me, "Daddy, why doesn't God always answer our prayers?" This question sounded very familiar, as I had heard it many times during my twenty years of service in the church and had tried to answer it for people young and old alike. Now the time had come for me to answer it for my only daughter as well. For we, too, waited sixteen and a half years for our daughter. It is now my duty before the Lord not to remain silent about this and to testify, with great gratitude and reverence, how good the Lord is to us. The Lord himself says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

Family and service in harmony

When you're young, you wonder how big your family will become. You want to please God and accept all your children as the Lord's. Many of our brothers and sisters in the church have very large families. It's not uncommon. My mother once told me, when we were discussing this topic, that she had a clear conscience before God and accepted all the children God had given her as the Lord's. I remember our unbelieving relatives pressured us during my childhood, saying, "Can't you influence your parents to stop having so many children?"

It is a wonderful example in our congregations to see how fathers and mothers have large families and their children actively serve the Lord in worship. The verse from the Bible comes to mind: “For if they perform their duties well, they gain a good station in the church and much confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:13). Such brothers are worthy to serve as ministers in the church, which is very often the case. Personally, I consider such families to be heroes of faith in our time! They will receive a great reward from the Lord, “if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-discipline” (1 Timothy 2:15).

So we too dedicated ourselves to the service of the church after deciding, shortly after our wedding, to transfer from the Miesau church to the Saarbrücken (Völklingen) church, since my wife comes from that church. Quite early on, my wife received a prophetic message that God would change all her plans. My wife also longed for a large family. And the Lord truly did things very differently. We had no children of our own, and yet, all the children from the church were also our children.

My wife led the children's program, and I dedicated myself to youth work. Looking back on that time, we realize that God thereby removed any possibility of grieving. Only with God's help were we able to submit our desire to have children to the Lord's will, even though our deep concern was about being alone in old age and having no one. I remember a prayer from that time. It resonated in my heart as a prayer of thanksgiving: "Lord, I thank you for everything you give me and also for everything you do not give me!" I prayed in the spirit of 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

For Christians, there is no such thing as coincidence.

Shortly after this prayer, I remembered the promise I had made to the brothers in France to visit them. They have an Armenian congregation 60 kilometers from our church. With several members of our congregation, we prepared a program and set off to serve there. The service was conducted according to the following Bible passage: “What then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one of you has something to contribute: a hymn, a teaching, a speaking in tongues, a revelation, an interpretation. Let all of these things be done for edification” (1 Corinthians 14:26).

A bishop from Armenia attended the service. He was currently touring Europe, visiting several Armenian communities. He had come to this service to participate in the blessing of the children. After the service, tables were set, and we enjoyed good fellowship. My wife and I were assigned a seat opposite the bishop and his wife. We talked about his ministry in Armenia and also in Germany.

They asked us how many children we had, and I explained that we were childless. Then they asked us how long we had been married. My wife replied that we had been married for 15 years. He looked at us and said, "In a year, you will be holding a child in your arms!" It was said so simply that I thought to myself, "How many people pray for us and long for children with all their hearts—this brother probably feels the same way." After a few songs, we prepared to go home. Before we were about to leave, the bishop came up to us again and said, "To confirm what I've said, I would like to pray for you." He prayed for us and laid his hands on us. Then we said our goodbyes.

He looked at us and said:
"In one year you will be a child
"Hold it in your arms!"

Parental bliss

My wife and I never spoke about that incident with the prayer again because we had pretty much come to terms with it. But after a few months, when my wife's health improved, a joyful, exultant cheer erupted from our hearts! From that moment on, our lives were filled with deep gratitude, awe, new feelings, and new experiences. We realized that this happiness of still being a father and mother was not something to be taken for granted, but rather a gift from God. As it says in Psalm 127:3: "Children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward."

Exactly one year later, just as God had foretold through this brother, we held our daughter in our arms. Yes, even today God performs great miracles, and we have been able to experience how great, merciful, and good our Lord is. After so many years of childlessness, life entered our home with a child and completely transformed our daily routine. We don't always understand why God leads us in different ways.

So I would like to turn to those married couples who are still childless. Nothing is impossible for God, for He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Remain faithful in serving the Lord and fill your time meaningfully. For there are so many large families who do not have this opportunity. We have a good example in the New Testament, where it says of Elizabeth and Zechariah: “They were both righteous in God’s sight, walking blamelessly in all the Lord’s commandments and statutes” (Luke 1:6). May God help us all to be instruments in His hand, so that He can accomplish His plan in us and through us!

Andreas Fast

Municipality of Saarbrücken