It is a time when hope is abounding and when dreams are limitless. A time when we are reminded of what we used to be, where we come from, what we have become, what is happening in our world and the possibilities that this package of newness brings to it.
This time is the time of new birth.
A time when the power of God’s creative hand touches the canvas of our lives and the beauty of the familial gallery is enriched. A time when prayers — silent hopes and external cries — have created a harmony so stirring; the symphony resonates to the ear of God, touching the heart of God.
This time is the time of new birth.
I can recall standing in my prayer closet asking God for what was on my heart. We were about to have our first child, and my wife and I wanted to have a pre-ultrasound technology experience — to not know the sex of our child. Filled with new parent anxiety, in my silent prayer to God, I asked, “Lord if you give me a girl, could you please give me boys first, to help care for her?”
I sincerely asked the Lord, but was I expecting His response?
Our first two children were boys and as far as we were concerned, there would be no more children. We gave up the crib, gave up the bassinette, and gave up the toys, never to hear Brahms’ Lullaby again.
Then a few years later the ultrasound tech told me … ”It’s a girl!” I immediately recalled my time in the prayer closet, five years ago, and began shedding tears.
I asked God, but I was not expecting a response.
1 Samuel 1:20 says, “…Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, ‘I asked God for him.’”
Hannah appears to be in amazement, because when she was unable to have a child, when she poured out her soul before the Lord year after year, when her face was sad, it was God who knew her situation, it was God who heard her plea, and it was God who saw her unhappiness. Now in her joy, she declares through her son’s name the identity of the one who made this new birth possible, Shemuel, meaning name of God. It was God’s intent to use Samuel to deliver His people.
We experience times when we don’t really believe the desires of our heart are attainable. You call out, whisper, or even mumble to God, yet you feel, “my request is just one of many.” Know that God is listening. And when God does answer — it could be today, it could be tomorrow, five years down the road, or even after a year-after-year turbulent experience — the question will be, “Are you listening?”
When God answers your prayer, will you be expecting His response? When God answers your prayer, will you be ready to give Him the credit for His response? When God answers your prayer, will you be ready to honor God by giving Him lordship over the very thing you received?
Don’t be caught off guard because your perception of your request signals a flat line. God is working out His purposes through your life. God desires to lavish you with His grace. Listen to the signs of life. God is waiting to give you new birth.
—Carl Ricketts Jr., MDiv, is director of Chaplain Services for Loma Linda University Medical Center.