The God of Multiplication

The following testimony is written from the heart of our UGA Shepherd April. So grateful we can continue to share HIS STORIES with each of you. I know you will be blessed by her story and transparency.

You shall also know that your descendants shall be many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth. Job 5:25

It was January 2011 and as I was praying about a situation in my life when the  Lord gave me this verse from Job. I wasn’t praying for more children. My daughter was almost seven  at this point, and after trying unsuccessfully for a 2nd child, my husband and I decided that we were ok with being parents to one. When I received this word it took me by surprise.  I remember telling a friend “I have no idea what this means since we only have one child”. A year later in January 2012 the Lord gave me another word. This time it was Hosea 2:16 “And it shall be, in that day” says the Lord, “that you will call Me ‘My Husband’ and no longer call Me “My Master’”. Again, I had no idea exactly what the Lord meant but I knew it was from Him.

 Fast forward ten years to 2022. My daughter was graduating high school and was preparing to head to college. It was such an exciting time for her, as she got accepted to her dream school. I began to pray, “Lord, let her grow stronger in her faith in these college years instead of walking away from You.” This was also the time my husband told me he wanted a divorce. I begged God to not let divorce be a part of my story and not let it be part of my daughter’s story. I cannot tell you how many times I prayed those prayers but it was constant until the Lord made it clear that His answer to those prayers would be “NO.” It was then I knew why He had given me the verse in Hosea about Him being my Husband. My entire world was shaken. My only child was in college, I was walking through a divorce, and on top of that the Lord led me to a new job after 13 years in the same place. Thankfully the Lord had already placed a group of prayer warriors in my life, and He continued to surround me with more. I didn’t understand the “why”, but I could see God’s hand at work.

After my daughter got to college, I saw a post on Facebook for PFTNG and joined the group. Even though God had said “NO” to some of my prayers, I knew He was still working. I watched my daughter get plugged into campus ministries and then a local church. She was growing in her faith! I will never forget a little over a year after the divorce, she was home one Saturday and said, “I don’t understand. God says He hates divorce.” All I could say to her was that I didn’t understand it either, but I believed Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for the good to those who are called according to His purpose.” I walked into my Sunday School the next morning to a lesson titled, “When God Allows What He Hates.” I couldn’t wait to show my daughter! It may not have been the answer she was looking for, but God heard her the day before!

It’s now been two and a half years since my divorce was final and this past May my daughter told me, “this divorce has caused me to depend on God more.” The very thing I prayed so hard against is the very thing God used to answer my prayers that she would grow in her faith!

Now back to the verse in Job that the Lord gave in 2011. I had become close to Barbara Jackson through PFTNG and had been attending the prayer walks at my daughter’s campus. The PFTNG Shepherd from her campus called me and said she was taking another position and would I consider taking the Shepherd position. I prayed about it and felt the Lord leading me to accept it. Now when I pray every Wednesday over all the names on my PFTNG campus, I see what the Lord meant by giving me Job 5:25. I may not know every student personally, but I know God does and He has given them to me to pray for just like I pray for my own daughter. I believe that the prayers of the righteous availeth much and we are going to see this next generation become mighty warriors in the kingdom of God!