Daily Devotional

A Legal Precedent


Don’t you love to watch court battles on tv? From the moment the bad guy breaks in to someone’s house until the judge slams his gavel down an hour later and pronounces his sentence, you get to watch and throw in your two-cents worth. You may not know a lot about the law, but it’s kind of fun to become arm-chair forensic scientist/lawyer.


One thing that is always interesting as you watch a show like this is learning what the legal precedents are. The judicial system relies on previous court cases to serve as authoritative rule in making current decisions. If a similar case has been previously decided, legal precedence provides an example or authority for judges faces issues in their courts. Oh, if you only had precedence in dealing with your infertility.



Good news, friend. You do.


Do you realize that Scripture is full of stories of infertility? There is “infertility precedence” all through the Word of God. You can find story after story of how God has worked and moved in the lives of infertile couples throughout history. You can look at Biblical precedence and see what you can expect in your own life.


Let’s examine two instances of infertility we find in Scripture to see what we learn from the precedents they set for us today.


Even though Abraham and Sarah were well past childbearing age, God promised them a biological child.

Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” (Genesis 15:4) “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” (Genesis 18:14) Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. (Genesis 21:1-2)


Precedent: If God makes a promise, He fulfills His promise, even if circumstances make the fulfillment of His promises seem unlikely.


God made a promise and God came through. At the age of 90 and 100, Sarah and Abraham became biological parents--without any kind of fertility treatments. If God makes a promise to you, He will fulfill it. Period.


Now let’s look at the life of Hannah and see what we can gain from her experience with infertility:


God closed Hannah’s womb, then remembered Hannah at the proper time, granting her a pregnancy and a healthy child.


Hannah had no children (1 Samuel 1:2) When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb. (1 Samuel 1:4-5) And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; (1 Samuel 1:19-20)


Precedent: If God closes a womb on purpose, He does it for a purpose, and that experience with infertility is purpose-filled.


Hannah’s infertility was no accident. God closed her womb on purpose. Although she probably could not understand God’s purpose in causing her infertility, Hannah’s struggle and the way she trusted God through it still encourages infertility women thousands of years after her death. What an amazing legacy she left for every woman who has ever felt the sting of baby hunger. What purpose her infertility held. Who knows what purpose your infertility holds?


You have biblical precedents to stand on in regard to your infertility. If God makes a promise to you, He will come through. He will do what He says He will do. He will work mightily through your infertility and has great purposes for your struggles. He is the same God yesterday, today and forever! The same God who worked wonders through the lives of Sarah and Abraham and Hannah and Elkanah is the same God who holds your hand today.