Hebron is Coming

“And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;” (2Sa 3:2 AV)

 

It just goes to show how much stress plays a part in barrenness.  David married Saul’s daughter, Michal.  She helped him escape the threats of her father, Saul.  But then she lied about it and Saul gave her away to a friend of David’s as his wife.  He was a bachelor, on the run from his own father-in-law.  He ran from Saul for thirteen years.  Five years before Saul would die, leaving the throne to David, David married Ahinoam and Abigail.  For five years David and his family, along with 600 other men and their families, traveled from place to place in fear of their lives.  What was particularly interesting to me was David’s firstborn, Amnon, did not come along until David was established in Hebron as the reigning king of Israel.  The entire five years of his marriage to Ahinoam and Abigail, there were no children born to David.  It was a great time of stress and uncertainty.  It was a time of trouble.  It was a time of unpredictability.  It was a time of anxiety.  During those times, there was no fruit.  No increase.  No future is established by the actions of the present.  As long as the people of God are under great times of trouble, they risk the reality of bareness.

When circumstances overwhelm the soul, planning and hope usually go by the wayside.  We are merely trying to survive.  I remember back in the ‘70s, China had loaned two giant pandas to the United States as a diplomatic gesture.  Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived at the national zoo in Washington DC.  It was speculated they would breed and produce the first American-born panda ever.  However, this never materialized. Together, this pair produced five cubs.  None of them survived.  After this pair died, two more giant pandas were loaned to the National Zoo.  Mei Xiang (female) and Tian Tian (male) arrived in 2000.  It would be five years and several attempts at pregnancy before Mei Xiang gave birth to the first surviving giant panda born on US soil.  The process of panda breeding is extremely complicated.  They are an endangered species for a reason.  Even in the wild, they do not reproduce nearly as prolifically as their cousins like the black or brown bear.  There is a small window of 36 hours once a year where a female can become pregnant.  If mating does not occur, the female must wait an entire year before another small window opens.  Add to the complications of natural breeding of the panda the stress captivity would bring, and once can see how nearly impossible it would be for two giant pandas to naturally conceive in captivity.  However, for the species to survive, it must adapt to adverse conditions and continue.

To say 2020 was a rough year is an understatement.  This is also true of churches.  Financially most of us are doing well.  The LORD has provided our needs and God’s people have remained faithful in supporting their ministry.  Where we are finding it challenging is building back what has been lost and increasing on what once was.  We are under a great deal of stress.  We have anxiety over what the future might hold.  Fishing for prospects or first-time visitors is getting impossible only because our entire culture has been scared into meeting with other people.  This will pass.  As the fear abates, there will be opportunity.  We should not be discouraged because there is a temporary lull in church growth or salvation decisions.  This is natural.  David and his two wives did not bear children while they were running for their lives.  They survived.  They went from one day to the next.  They were more concerned with their next meal than they were with the next generation.  But it won’t always be that way.  Just around the corner is our Hebron.  Just around the corner is the rest we have been waiting for.  Just around the corner are the times of bearing fruit.  They may not last long.  There may be a new set of circumstances that makes bearing fruit impossible.  These things go in cycles.  We merely have to remember there are fruitful times ahead and reason to be encouraged.  Hebron is coming.