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DISCUSSION QUESTION FOR TODAY...
Who is God to You?
Since my life-changing loss of my 7th miscarried child accompanied with my own near-death experience when losing our little 4 month old (preborn) Levi Samuel (more here) most might think that I would be angry at God for taking him away so soon or that I might even reconsider my beliefs that God should have complete control of my womb. It is BECAUSE of our belief of Who God is that Mark and I both hold fast to our beliefs about family planning. God has numbered each of our days (including mine and Levi's) and He would not create a child in my womb that was to cause my death without His foreknowledge and planning! God would not create a soul that we "should have prevented," just to take my life away to prove to the rest of the world that He needs our help in family planning. The fact is that He needs no one's assistance in the creation or prevention of life. The Creator can handle it all without our finite wisdom and help. He does not need our assistance in family planning in the least. Why do we worry so? Because...we are human.
My view of God is a view that He is all-powerful and all knowing. He is our protector; our shield. He is our comforter. He loves us with a love unspeakable. He holds us all in the palms of His hand. He numbers the very hairs on our heads, therefore He will not let anything happen to me in childbirth that He didn't have planned from before my own birth...He does not curse us (take away our lives needlessly) because we did not limit the blessings of children - His creations.
If I were or am to die in childbearing, that was planned from before the beginning of time! This life is but a vapor (James 4:14 "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."). Because my life is a mist, I will choose to let God watch out for my well-being while He takes over the creations within me. After all, who could know what's better for me and my babes, but the all-knowing God; Creator of Heaven and earth!
I trust in God - and God alone. I trust NOT in my limited human understanding. I have a peace that goes beyond understanding, knowing that in following His plan for our family that He will continue to watch out for us, whether I am here to mother or not; whether He chooses to bless us with more children or not. I TRUST IN GOD'S Wisdom, as only HE can see down the road ahead! I rest in His hand! Humans cannot fathom His love. We should not attempt to second-guess His decisions (although it is okay to tell God about our human feelings...He wants to listen to His children).
Because I trust so in my Creator...and the Creator of my children, present and yet to come...I will keep my vow to let HIM plan our family! "I will fulfill my vows to You, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for Your help. For you have rescued me from death; You have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in Your presence, O God, in Your life-giving light." Psalm 56:12-13
I will continue to worship Him and love Him forever! No matter what storm may come, I will praise Him!
"I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." Psalm 121
P.S. - What a great saying a commenter below shared..."If God's Will is perfect, why worry"! Yes, it might sound trivial to some, but when you REST in God's Will and try your best not to fight it, you find that peace that TRULY does pass all understanding. Yes, there will be a time of sadness, but JOY comes in the morning....whether that morning is tomorrow or a few months from now. It is still sad - losing Levi - but I know that he's with JESUS! How much more perfect can that be? Why should I wish for him to be with me when he can have what he has right now? I know I wouldn't want to come back here after tasting Glory!
I am to still take care of myself and stay within His plan for me...outside of God's Will, I may not be protected as when I'm in His Will. But I also know that if God calls me Home before my children are grown, that HE has the best in mind for them. Such peace when we think of our ALL-KNOWING God being in charge!
2 comments:
In your post titled Biblical Reasoning For Every Argument Against Letting God Plan Your Family, Bill Kinderman stated the following:
Before moving on I need to say: I am not one who says birth control is NEVER ever acceptable no matter what. I realize some out there take that view, and I respect it. But I do personally allow for non abortive bc in situations where there is a genuine health condition that will threaten the woman’s life if she conceives. I know of such a woman: she is quiverfull from the heart. But after having several children she developed a severe heart condition that could easily result in immediate death. No exaggeration, no speculation. Her weak heart was truly a threat to her life, and the stress of pregnancy was a threat to her weak heart. I would never tell her she is out of God’s will for using nonabortive bc. Situations like this do happen, but they are the exception. That is where the motive comes in: a person who really believes children are a blessing but does not want to die and therefore uses nonabortive bc is not in my view sinning.
This post raises the question: Are you and he in agreement?
How can I be notified when you comment? I'll leave my email address just in case.
pntgrubb@mchsi.com.
Thanks, Lisa!
This is a tough one. Mark and I went through this same issue back in January after I almost died after losing my 16 week old son, Levi (After suddenly gushing massive amounts of blood and delivering my precious boy, I went into shock w/in 10 minutes, was rushed by ambulance to the ER where I received 4 units of blood and was told that I was within an hour of passing away if I had not got into surgery at that time...it was surreal). If you put in my search box "Levi" you can read our posts on this and what decision we came to regarding God's sovereignty and birth control. If the Lord blesses us with another pregnancy, there are some VERY serious risks. In fact my OB said, "You are one that really concerns us. You could easily die. When you go into labor, we will need to have blood in the room, ready for a transfusion." Yes, I will not lie, this is SCARY! I'm human. Mark would go with me either way, as he understands my fears (he fears losing me), but when we look at it all, we realize that Jesus said that we cannot add one hour to our life by worrying. God is in control. He doesn't create mistakes that kill us any sooner than we would have gone Home anyway. I know that is a very controversial issue, but after looking into it further, after my own near death experience, I see that God is still God and I cannot extend my life beyond the number of days He laid out for me before the dawn of time.
As long as a woman is not taking another life in preventing a life in cases of her dying, I cannot say that is a sin. I, however, have found peace through still letting God be God over my life and my womb. Thanks for commenting, Tracy!
~ Lisa
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