[Guest: Janet Chester Bly] The Yard is Full

It is our pleasure to host Janet Chester Bly and her beautiful post on God’s gifts. Please leave a comment and let us know what unexpected gifts God has dropped in your life as well. – Nikki

My friend Sara lost four babies in seven years. After complications from her last miscarriage, the doctor warned, “You’ll never be able to carry a baby to full term.”

But Sara believed God promised her a yard with children playing. “It was like a dream I had during the surgery,” she explained. “I saw a yard filled with kids and God saying, ‘All of this is yours.’”

“I saw a yard filled with kids and God saying, ‘All of this is yours.’”-@BlyBooks Share on X

“It must have been the anesthesia,” her husband said. But Sara kept insisting otherwise.

Hopes and dreams can teeter between human presumption and God’s true promises. We all know someone who believed God would do a special thing for them that seemed to fall through. It never happened, at least, not the way they imagined.

Sometimes we predict what He will do, and how He will do it. If He doesn’t act according to our dictates, we tend to grumble or perhaps even fall away from Him. And yet, God does do great things in all our lives, in His time, by His sovereign and careful deliberation.

To wait for the fulfilling of divine promises requires the humility of patience. He wants our trust. He has a purpose and plan that will take time to fulfill. Meanwhile,we may have to overcome some obstacle first. We increase our intimacy with Him, as we walk together through the process. He aims to become our everything, above and beyond the promised thing.

Sara and her husband eventually became foster parents for three little girls. After several years, one of the girls was put up for adoption. “Would you like to adopt her?” the social worker asked. They quickly agreed.

Some time later, the social worker contacted them again. “I don’t understand it. Most our children are not adoptable, but the other two girls are now available too.”

Sara soon was the mother of three beautiful girls. So, that seemed God’s plan for them. And they were content. However, eight months later, she gave birth to a nine-pound baby boy. Four children within one year.

But that wasn’t all.

Six years later, Sara bore a daughter. Thirteen months after that, premature twin boys arrived, only three pounds each. “But healthy and no problems for them or me,” Sara marveled, as did her doctor. She also added, “Father, the yard is full.”

Abundance, that’s what Sara received. God often lavishes extravagant gifts to His children. But to others, He may seem stingy. He provides for each of us in different, surprising ways.

It’s like a home I once visited. From outside, it appeared simple, even austere with dull, gray walls, few windows, and bare landscaping. But inside featured a central, large courtyard overflowing with colorful flowers, birds and butterflies, and several exquisite fountains. The stark contrast startled me. Many times I passed that house and wondered why the owners did nothing to spruce it up. Those who lived there actually enjoyed a rich decor where it mattered most—within.

But God’s best gifts don’t stay hidden. When we least expect it, He floods us with bountiful joy, to do us good and bring Him glory.

(adapted from Hope Lives Here, Discovery House Publishers)