It’s hard to believe that this is the last guest post of the Listen Close, Listen Well series. I’ll be back next week to conclude the series. I hope that you’ve been encouraged as we’ve focused on listening to God (you can access the full series at the end of this post).
Today’s guest and I birthed babies around the same time, this year. It’s my honor to introduce you to the lovely Tyra as she vulnerably shares her heart and exhorts us with this good word today.
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Your Womb Belongs to Whom?*
By: Tyra Lane-Kingsland
One then done!
Maybe two then I’m through!
Those were my plans as related to having children. I’ve always liked kids but when I envisioned family life it revolved around my husband and me, our careers and perhaps a child or two. That was until I heard Him say, Your womb belongs to me.
The birth of my first child was a carefully calculated event. Like everything else in my life at the time, having a baby was placed into a little box of my own making. I was used to meticulously planning every facet of my life. Throw in my professional training of facilitating time management courses and it made for a well-plotted life.
That was until baby number two came outside of the plan. You see, my plans were written in ink and not pencil. As a new believer, I hadn’t learned Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”
My veneer of planning and control had been cracked and out oozed fragility and vulnerability. As I came undone, I clung fiercely to my new faith, praying for answers.
And the answers came. God showed me that He loved me just as I was. He taught me that my works wouldn’t get me into heaven. He modeled for me how to love and accept others. And He was very clear that discipleship was a high calling.
I understood very early in my Christian walk that He seeks for believers to be wholly committed and that’s what I intended to do. Yes, that’s what I intended to do, until He called me to do something that made no sense at all.
Your womb belongs to me.
Was God seriously telling me to turn my womb over to Him? And what exactly did that mean? Did that mean I would have an indefinite number of children, three, 12, how many? Did that mean I could no longer take contraception? Could I even practice natural family planning?
Your womb belongs to me.
When we have heard from Him, our job is not to understand it or to analyze it; our job is to simply obey.
Like Abram obediently left all that was familiar to embark on a journey into the unknown, God calls us to do things that may seemingly make no sense. But praise be to Him to operates not in nonsense but with ALL divine sense, who knows our beginning from our end and whose plans for us are to give us a future and a hope.
I chose to simply obey and surrender my womb.
This solitary act of surrendering my womb revolutionized my Christian walk. This single act of placing it all on the table compelled me to hand over EVERY area of my life to Him.
I’ve seen countless believers pick and choose which areas they’re willing to surrender to His Lordship. If indeed He is the LORD of our lives, then it would stand that He has dominion over every area. But that’s not how we do it. We say, you can have my husband but you can’t have my career. You can have my health but you can’t micromanage my breakfast, lunch and dinner.
If He is truly Lord, will we heed His voice?
But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? -Luke 6:46
God says if we love Him, we will obey His commandments. My friend says obedience is God’s love language. And the way we can show Him how much we love Him is by simply obeying. God invites us to draw near to Him, to come real close, where there is love, safety and blessing.
Was it easy for me to embrace having an unlimited number of children? Absolutely not!
Have I been the subject of ridicule for surrendering my womb? Yes!
Do I regret obeying Christ? No.
Today, I’m six children deep. I’m often asked if I’m having any more. He said, Your womb belongs to me. My answer to that question is, “I don’t know, we’ll see.” But what I do know is obedience yields high dividends.
Trusting Him,
Tyra
Tyra Lane-Kingsland is no stranger to inspiring the hearts of women. As a Women’s Ministry Leader, Speaker and Blogger, Tyra encourages countless women. She knows firsthand that God trades beauty for ashes, joy for pain, and a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness. Her desire is to help women experience vibrant relationships with Christ by seeing His handiwork in their everyday lives.
Connect with Tyra through her blog, Inspired to Live Fully, Twitter, and Instagram.
A note from Katie:
*God writes different stories in our lives. This post is a call to surrender to His lead, however that looks in each of our lives. The point is, we are all loved by our Good Father, Who authors each of our stories in individual ways.
In light of this topic, you might also enjoy reading these posts from various perspectives: The Miracle that Answered Many Prayer, I’m Not God’s Favorite (by me) and Blessing in Disguise by Kate Battistelli, An Open Letter to Mothers of Just One: Here is Your Problem by Jami Amerine, and Don’t Settle for Safe by Abby McDonald.
Read the rest of the Listen Close, Listen Well Series:
Not Ours to Give Away by Tiffany Parry
Lean In My Daughters by Kerrington Sweeney
Listening When It’s Loud by Teri Lynne Underwood
Fear and Doorknobs by Kim Osterholzer
What God Wants by Crystal Hall
Preparing a Place by Abby Banfield
The Luxury of Listening by Ashley Hales
His Grace Isn’t Just for Today by Abby McDonald
The God Dare by Kate Battistelli
Out of Your Comfort Zone by Tracey Casciano
Got Milk? God’s Got Answers! by Christy Mobley
On Hearing God and Being Surprised by Kristin Hill Taylor
Put On Your Listening Ears by Karina Allen
Letting Go in Order to “Go” by Martha Reid
It is Over! by Jami Amerine
When Listening Leads to Obeying by Kristine Brown
Are You Praying for Revelation? by Niki Hardy
Hearing Crickets When You Pray? by Anne Watson
Serving a Stranger by Lisa Appelo
Lamenting Praise by Judy Dunagan
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Tyra, your faithfulness oozes out of you. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Cor. 16:9 Love you!
Kelly,
I thank you. My faithfulness is but a fraction of the faithfulness the Father has extended to me. So in love I offer it back to Him as my way of saying Thank You Lord. Let’s continue to press forward, purposefully in faith.
“Obedience is God’s love language.” Thank you for sharing this. My mom’s name is Tyra, and she oozes wisdom in the same way you do. My heart’s desire is to please God, and I needed the reminder that it is a day-to-day surrender to His plan. Blessings to you!
Kasey,
Well look at that! There are no coincidences in God. I’ve never met another Tyra so send your sweet mama my regards. And it is truly a moment by moment surrender. Sometimes when we leave our sacrifice on the altar, we can look back, pine over it or even try to pick it back up. But by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you, you will remain surrendered. And He sees your heart. The Father knows your desire to please Him and He delightfully receives your offering. Be blessed sweet sister.