Today we are going to take a posture of peace by being filled with joy and peace in believing.
Posture is a short audible fist bump to remind you God is with you in everything.
Together we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.
Romans 15 verse 13 says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing
so by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Other translations say overflow with hope.
I just love that.
So if you follow Posture on Facebook or Instagram, you may have seen our exciting
announcement that we posted this weekend.
After many years of infertility, my husband Bruce and I are expecting our victory baby
in March 2021.
And I just have to say we have been so overwhelmed in the best way by everyone just jumping in
and sharing in our joy with us.
Thank you so much for celebrating us.
I'm still going through comments and messages because I just want to take time and savor
each one.
They're treasure to us.
Thank you.
I've even had some really sweet conversations in my DMs with fellow mamas who are also waiting
for their victory babies.
So I thought I'd share just a bit of our story and particularly I wanted to share the
breakthrough and the victories that Bruce and I received in the waiting, in the believing,
in the trusting during this journey.
Now, infertility may not be a part of your story.
Praise God.
However, I do know that many of you, probably all of you, are trusting the Lord right now
for some major victories.
And maybe you, like us, you've been waiting for years for these victories.
Whether it's physical healing, maybe you're believing for a prodigal to come home or for
salvation for a loved one.
Maybe you've been believing for a restored marriage or perhaps you've been believing
for your spouse or a home of your own or a dream job.
Major victories.
So I believe all of us can relate to this.
So please don't count yourself out of this conversation just because infertility may
not be a part of your experience.
We are all believing for these big things right now and it is an adventure.
Now, let me be clear.
This is not a do exactly what I did and you'll get your prayers answered conversation.
Okay?
I don't believe prayer is transactional in that way.
I am not giving you a formula.
There is no formula for answered prayer, just in case you're wondering.
What I'm going to be talking about is something so much greater and that is developing an
unshakable trust in the Lord that is relational, not situational, not transactional.
You know, we serve a God who chose intimacy with us.
He wanted to be in a relationship with us.
So what we're going to be talking about today is discovering the joy and the peace
and believing in trusting in him.
Now, Bruce and I, we are calling our daughter, our victory baby, because she is definitely
a victory.
However, while becoming pregnant with her is definitely a victory, it is not the victory.
Okay?
It's not the only victory in the story.
You and I, we always have victory in Jesus.
Always.
So no matter what you are believing for right now, you are not fighting a losing battle.
Never.
For those who follow Jesus, not even death has a final say.
Just think about that for a second.
Think about the majesty of who Jesus is and the victory he has given us.
Jesus's victory, that is our starting point.
Salvation made victory our lifestyle, not an event, not an outcome, not a resolve of
a particular circumstance, not a result.
So years ago, when it became apparent to Bruce and I that getting pregnant might not be as
easy as we assumed it would be when we first got married, we knew that we had entered a
battle.
And, you know, it wasn't a battle we had chosen for ourselves.
Honestly, like most battles, it definitely wasn't one that we even really wanted to
take on.
You know, at the time, it wasn't even a battle that we felt particularly equipped for.
We didn't have a clear way forward.
We didn't have all the answers.
At times, it honestly felt like we didn't even have the energy or the resources to take
this battle on.
But this is what we knew.
We were not alone in this battle.
And we knew that the one who is for us is so much greater than anything ever coming
against us.
So we
We had to armor up by making some decisions, by becoming firm in some big beliefs, and
the first one was this, we knew that we knew that we knew that God is good.
So we would not allow frustration or disappointment or grief or the unknown take that knowing
away from us.
And I talk about the goodness of God a lot, I mean basically every episode that I record
for Posture is wrapped in this truth, so I don't need to expound much more on that here,
I'll just say this, if it's not good, it's not God.
And second, we decided, Bruce and I, that we were enough for each other, like we chose
each other after all.
We made a covenant relationship with each other in marriage, for better or for worse,
and other than our relationship with God, Bruce and I do not have a covenant relationship
with anyone else on earth.
We don't have a covenant with our parents or our siblings or our best friends or our
pastors, nor do we have a covenant with any of our future children.
The covenant that we made was with each other and it was for a lifetime, and you know what?
We want to enjoy our lifetime.
So we decided we were enough for each other and we were going to enjoy the heck out of
each other in every season and in every battle.
And we weren't going to let what we didn't have, which was a child and answers and medical
insight, overshadow what we did have, each other.
And the third decision, the big belief that we were going to stand firm on was this, we
were not going to make ash out of other people's beauty.
Now this is what I like to call the kingdom kicker, because the world cannot do this authentically,
and that is wholeheartedly celebrating people who receive what you are believing for.
Now you have to have a healed heart and a renewed mind to do this well, which by the
way, you have access to in Jesus.
You are equipped for this.
I promise you can do this.
Bruce and I decided that every pregnancy announcement, every adoption announcement would be an encouragement
to us, not a grief.
We decided that every new baby and child that was coming into the lives of our friends and
families, they would be a reminder to us of promises fulfilled.
There's this beautiful scripture in Psalm 119 verse 24, and it says this about the Lord.
It says, your testimonies are my delight.
They are my counselors.
So every testimony that Bruce and I come across, we delight in as if it is our own.
Testimonies, they are our counselors.
They are a guide to us, pointing us to the truth of who God is and who we are becoming
in him.
Now you might think, well, you know what, Lindsay, it's totally easy for you to talk
about all this now because you're pregnant now.
And perhaps that's true.
But we had years to wrestle with all the what ifs and all the unknowns.
And the big what if, the big question that even a few brave people asked us during our
journey was, but what if it doesn't happen?
What if you believe and trust and decide in all these things and walk in the truth, but
you never get pregnant or you're never able to adopt?
This is what we knew.
This is what we trusted.
Even if we did not have children, God would not leave us empty handed.
I mean, he never has.
Our lives here on earth are rich and full in him.
I've said this before.
We were never promised a perfect life, but we were promised perfect peace.
So whatever you're believing for today, big or small, know this, believe this, trust this.
You don't have to wait for the victory.
Perfect peace is a victory that you have access to right now.
You know, our journey with infertility, it was not easy, but it was filled with peace
and joy in believing.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, you can abound, overflow in hope, and that, my friends, in
every battle is a victory.
you