How Far Will We Take It?

Good morning my friends,

Sometimes we get so accustomed to reading the Bible that we stop seeing the strangeness of a different time and a different culture. Could you imagine anyone marrying two sisters today? How about two sisters who also happen to be his cousins? In all of this mess, an uncle deceiving his nephew, a nephew deceiving his uncle, sisters fighting over a husband, babies being born all over the place, there is something worthy of note. Our God is responsible for life.

There is one principle that is dear to us as believers and it is this; life is from the hand of God:

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16)

We adhere to the belief that God has planned our life and our birth. We didn’t just happen to be born. He knew the circumstances of our birth. He selected the egg and the sperm. There was purpose because we have purpose. For me this one statement is the scariest and most comforting statement in the Word of God:

O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me. (Psalm 139:1)

You know me Lord. You know me. To be known by God is an incredible thing. He knows me because he ordained that I would be born. He gave me life, existence and in that existence he gave me purpose. It is my choice to embrace or reject that purpose.

As we see these sisters fighting over their husband we see that God was in charge of the womb. He opened it and he closed it. He had purpose in this. This leads to a lot of questions. If he has opened the womb do we have the right to close it? If he has closed it do we have the right to open it? These are not easy questions to consider if you are in the midst of a struggle with infertility. Science is learning to overcome these obstacles but just because we can does that mean we should? Some of you may not know and others know all too well that my wife and I were told we would never have children. For six years we explored every avenue. I know what it is to live with a wife who is desperate for the experience of being pregnant, of giving birth. It took a great act of submission and a resolve to accept God’s will before the hand of God was moved. In case you do not know us, we now have nine children.

There are some very hard questions we need to ask about this principle of God giving life. Do we believe what the Word puts forward that God has ordained and planned every life of every human being born on this planet? If that is the case do we have a right to try to control his will? Do we have a right to prevent pregnancy? Do we have a right to end pregnancy? There are many places to find the statistics on how many unborn children are killed each year but no place to give us statistics on how many pregnancies were prevented. It may sound strange to you but if God is in control of life doesn’t it amount to the same thing? Or does it? How far are we willing to take this principle?

The world is filled with information, misinformation, lies, and things to manipulate our thinking in this very important area of life. According to some statistics the world is overpopulated and unable to sustain this kind of growth. Some people believe the earth has just the right amount of resources to take us to the day of Jesus’ return. We know it is a lie that we are running out of oil. Our shortages are man made; not enough refineries and such. There is more than enough fresh water, we are simply being unwise with it and are polluting it. We have great ways to produce clean energy but not the will power to spend the money to develop it. Our problems come down to selfishness.

The strange thing is that my wife and I have people who call us selfish for having so many children. What some people call selfish we call submission to God’s will. We never set out to have such a large family but as we matured God showed us more things and so we have come to accept this principle of God being responsible for life. I guess it comes down to who we want to believe; the current thought of our society and culture or the Word of God. Some avoid even thinking about this because they have other plans for their life and do not want to wrestle with a large family and career. Just because we give back the control to God does not mean that we will all end up with large families. Remember, he is in charge of the womb. He will open it and close it. It is not a mere act of nature.

Young girls enjoy planning out their family. They like deciding how many children to have, their names and what their children will grow up to do. Not too often do we hear them say that they will have the family that God has planned for them. We recognize the supremacy of God’s will when it comes to seeing each other, “See you tomorrow, God willing.” But when it comes to most areas of our lives we want to maintain control. It is certainly something to think about.