What a God We Have!
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (NIV) Ecclesiastes 3:11
"What a God we have" is a theme chosen by a couple in Ghana, West Africa as a result of what the Lord has done for them in various ways, especially for the blessing of a long-awaited child. It is our hope that by sharing our story with you, it will serve to remind you to be steadfast in the Lord and follow His principles always, even in difficult times. For the God we serve will never abandon us or ignore our prayer requests. At the appropriate time, He will answer us in a beautiful way as stated in Ecclesiastes 3:11.
In July 2003, we got married and our journey as a couple started with happiness and expectations of great and amazing things to come. Therefore, when the presider blessed us with God’s words in Genesis 1:28 - go and multiply, we were very happy and could hear the congregation responding “Amen” with a lot of funny comments. But little did we know that our faith and trust in God will be tested before we receive our blessing.
Soon after our marriage, the expectation of having a child began with family, Christian brethren and friends asking me (the man) the very common question to newlyweds in Ghana; “Hope the baby is on the way coming?”. In my response, I often say “yes, on the way coming” because as a Christian, I believe Faith plays a critical role in every step we take. However, the first year ended without any sign of my wife conceiving. We were less anxious, though felts the external pressure from family and friends.
By the middle of the second year in marriage, the anxiety started to build up. But anxiety is a state that really affects the normal way the body system works, hence the good book warns us not to be “Anxious for nothing but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Phil 4:6).
During the third year, we started visiting hospitals but anywhere we go, the report from the physician is none of us is having a problem. Then the question is “why three years and no baby if really there is no problem?” Apart from visiting hospitals and taken orthodox medicines, we were also trying herbal medicines. This made us travel far and near to so-called good herbalists to help us get a child. In the fourth year, we began to experience ridicule from neighbors with some going to the extent of associating our lack of childbirth to fetish belief that we have exchanged our children for money. This really broke our heart, but we believed strongly that it is a challenge we are passing through and at God’s own time He will make things beautiful.
After 12 years of waiting and visiting various hospitals and herbalists, we decided to go for In vitro fertilization (IVF). We started the process but had to stop along the way because we could no longer afford the huge bills. After this, we decided not to visit any hospital since we were tired and financially constrained. We had spent a lot of money and sometimes borrowed to pay some of the bills. Although we gave up on visiting hospitals, we didn’t give up on God and regular prayers.
In January 2018 (after 15 years), God answered our prayers when we least expected. My wife conceived and on August 25, 2018, a beautiful baby girl was put in my arms. All that I could say was “Thank you, Jesus! What a God we have!” We named our baby girl, “Animuonyam” which means Glory – for the Lord has shown His glory through her.
Beloved, our God is a faithful God! Never lose hope no matter the challenges you are going through for He will make everything so beautiful in his own time that will be perfectly right for you as well! God bless you!!