Read Genesis 18:11, Genesis 30:1, 1 Samuel 1:1-8, and Luke 1:7. What do these people have in common? How did God answer their longings?

Children are a blessing. But for some reason God doesn’t always bless everyone with children. Some hope and pray for a family, and God graciously grants their request, sometimes quite miraculously, as in the case of Sarah; others just as fervent in their petitions before God’s throne are met by deafening silence.

Loss of Health

Every time they see friends praise God for their pregnancies and when they welcome their babies, it deepens the depth of the wound as they consider their empty nest. Even such innocent questions as “How many children do you have?” serve as painful reminders of an exclusive club that those without children are excluded from, even though they may want to join.

Those who have gone through such an experience should come to accept that God understands their sorrow. The psalmist declares of God, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Ps. 56:8, NLT). Even though He seems silent, “the LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him” (Ps. 103:13, NLT).

Other people, meanwhile, for various reasons, might choose simply not to have children. One can understand in a world like ours so full of suffering, pain, evil, and potential calamity, why some might decide not to bring more people into it. In some cases, some people might choose to adopt children instead of having their own; that way they can raise children who are already here, often giving them a chance at a much better life than what they might have otherwise had.

Our world is a complicated place, and we are likely to meet all sorts of people in all sorts of situations in regard to having or not having children. In whatever situation we find ourselves regarding the question of children, we can live with the assurance of God’s love for us and His desire for our good end. At the same time, too, let’s always remember to be as sensitive as we can toward people who, for whatever reasons, do not have kids.

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Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 18:11; Jer. 31:25; Matt. 11:28; Psalm 127:1-5; Prov. 22:6; 1 Sam. 3:10-14; Phil. 3:13.

Memory Text: “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward” (Psalm 127:3, NKJV).

Births are such a common, normal occurrence that often we don’t always fully appreciate the wonder that they are. Imagine what Eve must have felt holding baby Cain in her arms. The changes she experienced in her growing body during those months, the excruciating pain of childbirth, and then seeing this small child, so much like them, yet so defenseless. What an experience it must have been for Sarah, in her 90s and way past childbearing age, to contemplate upon the face of her own son, Isaac; she must have laughed every time she pronounced his name. After praying for a son for who knows how long, Hannah held Samuel and said, “For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him” (1 Sam. 1:27, NKJV). The wonder in Mary’s heart, still a young girl, cuddling her son, God’s Son, with a combination of amazement and fear.

At the same time, not everyone has the privilege, and responsibility, that comes with parenting. This week we will spend time exploring the season of parenting with its challenges, fears, satisfaction, and joy.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 25.

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You can view an in-depth discussion of “Keys to Family Unity” in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. You may download an MP4 video file, and audio file or a PDF lesson outline from the HopeSS site.

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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‘The Man’ Shares Sabbath

By Andrew McChesney

Not many people can say that they have spoken with an angel.

Farmer Notley Tidwell could–but he didn’t. Instead, he referred to the mysterious stranger as “the man”.

Image © Pacific Press

One evening in the 1880s, Notley prayed as he trudged home, his fiddle in hand, from a barn dance in the U.S. state of Texas. He was confused. He had been raised to worship on Sunday, but he had been studying the Bible and saw that the Fourth Commandment said, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8; KJV).

As he prayed, a man suddenly appeared beside him. Notley knew everyone in the area, and he had never seen this man before. But he wasn’t startled. The stranger was very pleasant.

“He just appeared and started talking to him”, said his granddaughter, Lorena Stigaullde, 94.

The conversation soon turned to the Sabbath, and Notley shared his growing conviction that God had set aside Saturday, not Sunday. He expressed bewilderment that he couldn’t find anyone who observed Saturday.

The stranger said he knew of a group of people who worshipped on Saturday, and he gave detailed directions to their meeting place. Notley glanced to the side as they spoke, and when he looked back, the man was gone.

“He was just there, and he turned, and he was gone”, said his great-granddaughter Reba Seifert, 68.

Returning home, Notley told his wife about the unusual meeting and, days later, decided to follow the man’s directions. They led to a farmhouse where a small group of Seventh-day Adventists met every Sabbath.

Notley was baptized into the Adventist Church with his wife and their eight children. He later became a local church leader and planted the first local Adventist church, located between the towns of Linden and Marietta, Texas.

Although the church is now closed, others have sprung up in the area, including a church in Linden where Lorena attends with other relatives.

Notley’s legacy also lives on. His faithfulness to God spawned several generations of mission-minded Seventh-day Adventists who have served as Bible workers, literature evangelists, and special needs leaders in Texas and beyond.

“He became the first Adventist in a large family”, said Reba, one of granddaughter Lorena’s four children.

Notley never identified the stranger as an angel, but the family believes that he was sent from heaven in answer to an earnest prayer.

“He just called him ‘the man’, but he believed that God sent him”, said Lorena, who heard her grandfather tell the story when she was a girl. “I believe he was an angel”.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

All Rights Reserved. No part of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide may be edited, altered, modified, adapted, translated, reproduced, or published by any person or entity without prior written authorization from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

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Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “A Sacred Circle”, pages 77-180, in The Adventist Home; Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, pages 236-238.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Unity—the first work. “The first work of Christians is to be united in the family. … “The more closely the members of a family are united in their work in the home, the more uplifting and helpful will be the influence that father and mother and sons and daughters will exert outside the home”. – Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home, p. 37.

The secret of family unity. “The cause of division and discord in families and in the church is separation from Christ. To come near to Christ is to come near to one another. The secret of true unity in the church and in the family is not diplomacy, not management, not a superhuman effort to overcome difficulties—though there will be much of this to do—but union with Christ”. – Page 179.

Discussion Questions:

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