This morning, for some reason, I thought about a little story my mother had told me surrounding my birth. The military doctors had said that I would be born in late February, but then my mother met an old man who held her hand then touched her middle finger and said, “Your baby will be born between March 3rd and March 4th.” A little while later, my mother goes into labor and I was born at 12:01 am on March 4th.
She always thought it was really incredible that the man was right. I think what would have been even more incredible is if the man had given her a whole list of what would happen in the future. I then thought about the Bible and how it is full of predictions of the future—many of them I can’t even fathom.
Sometimes I wonder why the man told my mother when I was going to be born—was it a way to distract her from God? Who was this man? All I know is that for the longest time my mother was consumed with horoscopes, “reading” cards, and interpreting dreams. She took me to see a witch doctor instead of a real doctor when I was a teenager and suffering from migraines.
As far as I know, my mother does not know really know Christ. I continue to pray for her and hope that God will open her eyes so she can learn to trust only Him.
The passages in James 1:5-8 come to my mind:
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do” (NLT).
Even though my mother has suffered many health problems, she is still alive. Perhaps God is being patient with her (2 Peter 3:9). I hope that one day she will tell me that she is a Christian and I can rejoice about it as the angels do (Luke 15:7). I have to pray and hold on to that hope.
Dr. T's Food for Thought 