Money Spent with Nothing Gained

Have you ever made a poor investment? Have you ever lost a lot of money on something in a short amount of time? Well, similar to the way one may invest in a venture that never leaves the ground, seeing the dollar signs spent without a return is not a good investment, and not an enjoyable experience, to say the least.

Who would have thought that looking back on our medical expenses from the past year would hurt so much?

Now maybe this sounds cold to some; somewhat shallow, unspiritual, and matter-of-fact. But for us it's a real pain-point.

Infertility hurts.

It hurts emotionally.

It hurts physically.

It hurts socially.

And it hurts financially.

It's as if our hopes for a biological child shrink in direct, converse relationship to the growing stack of medical bills on the countertop. Don't mistake me here: I'm not saying this is right. I'm not saying that our feelings should be dependent upon external data such as invoices and receipts. I'm simply acknowledging a rarely talked about reality of our journey through infertility.

What do we have to show for the years of consultation co-pays, tests, prescriptions, and procedures? Nothing. Or so it sometimes seems.

While we don't have a child, we are reminded by the Word of God that we already have all that we need right now. We're told in Psalm 84:11,

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly."

No good thing does God withhold from us! Similarly we read in Psalm 34:10,

“The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

And what about the assurance given to us by the Holy Spirit in 2 Peter 1:3, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness..."

Or as the Puritan Thomas Watson put it,

"If it is good for us, we shall have it; if it is not good for us, then the withholding of it is good."

So I guess that as that stack of bills continues to grow, this is the perspective we need to maintain. For those of us who have been bought by the blood of Jesus, God is telling us that according to Him, we already have all that we need for today, all that we need for right now, for both this life and for eternity.

~ David