God Cares for the Unborn
We were enjoying a memorable evening at the close of a four-week outreach trip. As was our custom, our ministry team dined at a nicer restaurant for our final meal. Over scrumptious Mediterranean food and Turkish coffee we shared stories, laughs and the myriad ways God had shaped us during the time our team had spent together in Israel.
But God was not done writing the story of our trip. And He was not done changing lives. He was writing one last chapter about a mother and her baby.
During the meal we noticed a couple at a nearby table engaged in intense conversation. At one point the young woman stood up. Clearly hurting emotionally, she walked away from her table.
Chris, a guy from our team, asked the man she was dining with if everything was okay. The man explained his co-worker was just a few weeks pregnant and was seriously considering an abortion. The father was seemingly not in the picture.
To our complete surprise, as our team prepared to leave the restaurant the man handed us a small piece of paper with *Lisa’s name and phone number on it.
A few days after the rest of the team had flown home my wife and I wondered, “What do we do with this phone number?” We prayed again and went about our business.
While walking the streets of a small town in Israel, we bumped into *Anna. It turned out we have several mutual friends.
After some small talk, Anna shared her heart for women considering abortions. She had aborted a baby when she was young and regretted her decision immensely. Now Anna devoted her life to helping women who were considering ending the life in their wombs.
We knew right away what we had to do with that phone number! God had answered our prayer.
Sadly, the majority of the world does not believe the Bible’s teachings about God or life. Most people acknowledge life in the womb is precious, but wrongly place women’s rights above innocent life. The strong prevail over the weak. John Piper makes this quite evident in a blog titled, “We know they are killing children - all of us know.”
Those of us who know and believe the Bible are already convinced that life in the womb is precious to God. Scripture passages teach this truth:
Psalm 139 tells us God knits us together in our mother’s womb.
John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary greeted her cousin (Luke 1:39-45), an example that babies in utero are responsive human beings already aware of the outside world.
The righteous Hebrew midwives at the time of Moses pleased God by saving babies deemed unworthy of life by the authorities of their day (Ex. 1:15-21).
There is more to Lisa’s story.
When we returned to Israel the next year we asked Anna about Lisa. She replied, “Oh, she came and stayed with us in our spare bedroom. She heard the gospel. She decided to keep her baby. She now has a beautiful baby girl!”
God cares deeply for this child. He went to great lengths to protect her life.
I wonder where that six-year-old girl is right now. Perhaps my own son, who was born just two weeks ago, will meet her one day.
Over 50 million babies in the U.S. have been murdered on the altar of women’s rights since 1973.
What would God have you do to stand up against the evil taking place in our day?
Written by Levi, Associate Director for LIFE