Life as a Christian Woman

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…
Jeremiah 1:5a

¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb make them?  Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
Job 31:15

⁹ Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Psalm 22: 9-10

Today I am angry. Very, very angry.

A friend recently asked me to pray for a young woman that she had heard about. This woman is pregnant, currently at 34 weeks, and the doctors have determined that her child, a girl, will most likely die in utero. Even if the baby makes it to delivery, the likelihood of survival is virtually nil.

The young mother is a Christian with a strong faith. She is broken and broken-hearted, but knows that God is with her and will carry her through this, and stands ready to take her daughter to live with Him.  The mother is active in her church.

And unmarried.

She became pregnant outside of marriage. But this isn’t why I’m angry. I’m angry at what a few of her fellow Christians, her brothers and sisters in Christ, have put her through.

When she found out she was pregnant, more that a few suggested… strongly… that she get an abortion.  When it was determined that her baby would not survive, several suggested that this was God’s way of punishing her.

But she has persevered. And her faith has grown as she has worked her way through this crisis. I would like to excerpt some of her words regarding her feelings, as they are so pure and heartfelt, I could never improve upon them:

We all make mistakes, but God doesn’t. And like I have previously said, I do not believe that God punishes people with babies. I also do not think the answer is ever abortion.

We can’t be “pro-life” but simultaneously shun the girl in the church pew who has repented, but yes, is pregnant (I would go as far as saying we can’t even shun the unrepentive girl in the church pew who is pregnant…). I believe that if we are “pro-life” then we need to make more of an effort to impart life as a core value among our friends, community, churches, etc.

And while I say this being in this situation, I believe it needs to be said regardless. We (meaning specifically the body of Christ/sisters in Christ/fellow mothers/pro-life individuals) need to let those carrying the life know they are loved. The personal discouragement that I felt from “friends” and some within my “church community” this past year was enough to (thankfully, only) almost move me in a different direction. I strongly believe that when a girl is alone, or an unmarried couple is struggling with an unplanned pregnancy - they need support, not judgement. We need to be willing to set aside our own judgements and simply meet them where they are at, not make them feel worse off, less forgiven, more judged than they already feel from within.
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In short, we can’t claim to be “pro-life,” and then be the first to throw the stone at the pregnant woman/unmarried couple facing this kind of situation. Life won’t be valued and had, if the life-carrier (aka the mom), feels no support.

It is true, we make our own choices. I made mine. It is also true that God doesn’t wait until the “crisis” (yes, I did consider my pregnancy such) to warn us. God speaks the truth and His intentions are always clear. He wants to save us from our sins. He tells us as it is, explains how sin will hurt us, and then He offers us a better way. I knew having sex could mean pregnancy. I didn’t listen to Him and I did find myself in crisis. What a lesson in the misunderstanding of the severity of consequences and the power of prevention, right?
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But even in the crisis God is there. All it ever requires is us going back to Him and/or repenting. I think as Christians, we also need to be there. And while I say all of this in regards to being pro-life and pregnant, I think the lesson can be applied across the board. Who are we to judge? Who are we to shun? Who are we to gossip about? When our sin is right there alongside the next persons? Visible, invisible, big, small; sin is sin.
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Truth be told, I am completely incapable of living this life without completing falling on my face, but praise God I have a Savior who died for me. The very blood I made Him bleed, He used to cover me, and you. All our sins. All of them. So… “Knocked up?” … No, just a sinner. Saved by grace. Praise Him.

The scriptures that I included at the top of this post make it clear that the minute, THE VERY SECOND, that our lives are formed, we are His. He knows us. He loves us before our parents even know of our existence.

Yet there is another scripture that I find equally compelling. It is a story so familiar that we skip over it. An adulterous woman brought before our Lord by the leaders of the church. They want Jesus to condemn her. His reaction? Anyone without sin feel free to throw the first rock.

And the leaders skulk off, beaten once again.

But the story doesn’t end there. He looks the woman in the eye. And he tells her that he doesn’t condemn her, either.

¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.

³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, ⁴they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.

⁵“Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?”  ⁶They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.

⁷But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

⁸Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.

¹⁰Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”

¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
John 8: 1-11

I don’t know what the future holds for this young mother and her unborn child. Miracles happen, and I, along with many others who have read her blog, are praying for a miracle. But should God call the little one home, how wonderful that this young mother rests in the arms of our Lord, allowing Him to comfort her.

And how wonderful that her love of and trust in God was not destroyed by those who condemn her.

Click here to read this young mother’s blog, or visit littleoneapril.blogspot.com