I have a burden. And it increasingly has been getting heavier and heavier. I have stayed away from controversial subjects on purpose, because I didn’t want to step on anyones toes or offend anyone. But I realize that the time has come to speak up. For it we are always concerned about being “politically correct”, how will others hear the truth? Doesn’t our silence alone condone evil actions? What is my burden? Children. Actually, the lack there of.
It’s easy to see what a society, and the individuals themselves, hold as valuable. The new cars, the large houses, the designer clothing, the fancy vacations, the best schools for the children, the newest toy and gadget in technology, money. The list is quite long, isn’t it? What about people? Do you think that our society, as a whole, values people? Walk through a retirement home or a nursing home. How many of the residents have visitors? And how often? Ask the workers there, and they’ll tell you just how often visitors come. How many elders in our communities are home alone, seldom having visitors? If you’re honest, you’ll realize the answer is many.
What about children? Did you know that the number of abortions per year is approximately 1.37 million a year, with 3,700 a day. And that most of the abortions, 55.4%, performed on are from women who claim to be Christians?(you can find these and other true statistics here) Our society does not value human life and there is no way you can convince me otherwise. Unfortunately, this view of life has trickled down into the Church as well.
You can hear it by how people talk about children. “We’re done having children”, “I have only one and that’s enough!”, “We have our two and we’re satisfied with that”, “We’re finally at a place where the kids are independent”, “I’ve never wanted many children” and other such selfish sayings. Children are seen as burdens, not blessings (Psalm 127), they are seen has hindrances to our life styles, not as models to copy (Matthew 19:13-14), they are seen as “duty’s” to be done, not as valuable possessions (Psalm 128) .
Having 5 children, I have heard these comments, and others, so many times. And each time they have caused me such sadness. You see, most people don’t realize what children are. They are eternal souls. Did you catch that? Eternal souls. The Lords God wants to give you something that will never die. He wants to give you this child to teach, to love, to kiss, to nurture, to lead, to hug. This is a gift from the Lord. And you don’t want His gift? You sincerely don’t want this precious, beautiful, unique gift that He wants to make just for you? If it was the gift of money, would you say to Him “I don’t want anymore”? Or “I’m done” and don’t need anymore money?
The Lord says over and over how He views children. They are blessings, they are valuable, they are worthwhile, they are joys. If God views them as blessings, who are we to think otherwise? Many people would argue that they do indeed view children as blessings and that they are valuable. But do they really? If that was the truth, do you think families would continue to have more TVs or computers than children? If that was the truth, would we have couples who willingly prevent these gifts from happening (either from abortion or from a type of birth control or from a type of surgery)? And do you really think that one of those forms is any better than the other? Aren’t they all doing the same thing? Many say that “I don’t want _____”, but shouldn’t we, as professing Christians, ask “what does God want”?
Psalm 127 states that “blessed is the man who has his quiver full of them (children)”. Not every person is made to have many children. Who’s to say how many children it will take to fill your quiver. So far, mine is 5. I know a lady who is expecting her 11th child. I also know of a couple who have been married for over 30 years, have never used birth control and who don’t have any children. God knows what you need and what you can handle. I think that any professing Christian would agree with that. Then don’t you think it’s time to put our words into action, to show the world that we really do believe what we say?
Trust the Lord God to know what you need, to know what you can handle, to know what is best for you. Make a stand and put value back into the life that He makes. It’s not an easy stand by any means. Nothing that is worth while comes easy. Nothing is when it goes against what society does. But He is faithful and will give you the means necessary to live and do what He has commanded of you.
Isn’t an eternal soul worth it? Were you worth it?