Blessed Is She Who Believed: What I Wish I Had Known as a Young Mom

The other morning, I was enjoying my quiet time with the Lord when I found myself doing something I suspect many mothers and grandmothers know very well.

I was worrying.

Not exactly the frantic kind of worry. More the quiet kind that slips into our prayers when something matters deeply to us.

I was talking to the Lord about Zoom Zoom Books and how much I desire for Him to use these stories to help children know Him, love Him, and develop a real and intimate relationship with Him.

Will the books reach the children I hope they will reach?

Will parents and grandparents discover them?

Will God really use this little ministry for His purposes?

As I handed those concerns over to Him, I sensed His still, small voice directing me to Luke 1:45.

I turned there and read:

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Wow.

I sat with those words.

Blessed is she who believed.

Mary did not yet see the fulfillment. She could not possibly have understood all that lay ahead of her. She simply believed the God who had spoken to her.

And suddenly I felt the Lord reminding me of something I already knew but needed to remember again:

These books were His idea before they were mine.

He gave me the stories. He opened the doors. He planted in my heart this desire to help parents and grandparents draw children closer to Jesus.

And if He gave the assignment, I can trust Him with the outcome.

My responsibility is obedience.

His responsibility is fulfillment.

What I Wish I Had Understood as a Young Mom

As I sat there, my thoughts traveled back many years to when I was raising my own children.

Oh, how I wish I had understood this truth then as deeply as I am beginning to understand it now!

There were so many circumstances I wanted God to change.

So many prayers I wanted Him to answer.

So many things involving my children that I wanted to fix, control, prevent, or hurry along.

I believed in God, certainly.

But there is a difference between believing in God and believing God.

Believing God means trusting that He is at work even when I cannot see His hand.

It means believing His character when my circumstances confuse me.

It means trusting that the God who loves my children infinitely more than I ever could has not lost sight of them.

It means believing there will be a fulfillment of everything He has promised—even when I cannot yet see how He will accomplish it.

Our Children Are Watching How We Trust

Looking back, I wonder whether one of the most powerful ways I could have discipled my children was simply by letting them watch me trust God more.

Not pretending that everything was fine.

Not giving them simplistic answers.

But allowing them to hear me say:

“I don't know what God is doing here, but I know who He is.”

“We have prayed about this. Now we're going to trust Him.”

“God hasn't answered the way we hoped yet, but that doesn't mean He isn't working.”

“We can believe Him before we see the answer.”

What might happen in a child's heart if this became the normal language of home?

Faith would become more than something we teach during family devotions.

Our children would watch faith being lived.

They would see Mom and Dad disappointed—and still trusting.

They would see Grandma receive difficult news—and still praying.

They would discover that trusting God doesn't mean we always understand what He is doing.

It means we know Who is doing it.

There Is Blessing in Believing

Luke 1:45 says something else I don't want to miss.

Mary wasn't merely told that God's promise would be fulfilled.

Elizabeth said Mary was blessed because she believed.

There is blessing in trusting God before we see.

There is peace in releasing the outcome to Him.

There is freedom in remembering that we were never meant to carry responsibility for things only God can accomplish.

And perhaps that is a lesson our children desperately need in a world that teaches them they must control everything about their futures.

We can teach them another way:

Obey what God has asked you to do.

Pray.

Work faithfully.

Then trust Him with what you cannot control.

And So I Am Choosing to Believe

That morning, I gave Zoom Zoom Books back to the One who gave them to me.

Again.

I told Him that I would work hard. I would write. I would pray. I would knock on doors. I would do my best to steward what He has entrusted to me.

But I don't have to make His purposes happen.

I can believe Him for the fulfillment.

And perhaps you need that reminder today too.

Maybe it concerns one of your children.

Maybe it's a grandchild who seems far from God.

Maybe you've prayed the same prayer for years and see little evidence that anything is changing.

Keep praying.

Keep loving.

Keep planting seeds of truth.

Keep modeling a faith that trusts God's heart even when you cannot trace His hand.

And remember the beautiful words that encouraged this grandmother's heart during an ordinary morning with Jesus:

“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” — Luke 1:45

God is worthy to be believed.

Even before we see the fulfillment.

Carrie's Reading Corner

This week, find an opportunity to let your children or grandchildren hear you trusting God out loud.

Tell them about something you're praying for—not in a way that burdens them, but in a way that invites them into faith.

Then pray together:

“Lord, we don't know exactly how You will answer this prayer. But we know You are good. We know You love us. And we choose to trust You even before we see what You will do.”

One of the greatest gifts we can give the children we love may not be showing them a life in which everything works out exactly as we hoped.

It may be showing them a life that says:

“I believe God.”