Posted on 11/26/2017 8:01:55 AM PST by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
The 31-year-old mother of four made an announcement to family and friends on Facebook: She and her husband of four and a half years were expecting a fifth child. “We’re blessed,” wrote she.
Most Christ followers believe an automatic blessing awaits mothers- and fathers-to-be, no matter the circumstances under which their newborns are brought into the world. But the Bible does not say that the actions of expectant parents can displease God, yet the arrival of their newborn guarantees the Almighty’s blessing.
In fact, it teaches us the opposite – that God does not reward parents-to-be whose actions run contrary to His divine will.
So it was with Abraham and Sarah. God promised the couple they would be the father and mother of nations. But Sarah lost faith when she thought herself beyond child-bearing age and urged husband Abraham to use her Egyptian handmaiden Hagar as a surrogate womb.
So Hagar bore Abraham a son named Ishmael, who would become the progenitor of the Arab peoples. Fourteen years later an angel of the Lord appeared to Abraham and told him God’s appointed time had come for him and Sarah to have a child of their own. And God fulfilled His promise with the birth of Isaac.
Ishmael resented his younger half-brother Isaac, as Sarah and Hagar mutually despised each other. Thus was Abraham forced to drive out Hagar and Ishmael from among his people.
Then there was David and Bathsheba, who brought forth a child out of adultery and the killing of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite. God was displeased with David, and though David pleaded with God to spare his newborn son’s life, the Lord struck down the child.
Were Abraham and Sarah blessed by Ishmael’s birth? Absolutely not. Because it was not God’s will. And while God forgave Abraham and Sarah their lack of faith, while He kept His promise that Abraham and Sarah would be the father and mother of nations, the descendants of Ishmael are to this day sworn enemies of Isaac’s descendants, the Jewish people.
Were David and Bathsheba blessed by their unnamed son’s birth? Hardly. For while God forgave the couple, while He anointed their son Solomon to succeed his father to the throne, God also decreed that the sword would never depart from David’s house.
And so it was that David’s rebellious son Absalom sought to overthrow his father and take his kingdom. When rebellious Absalom was killed, his father David wept bitterly.
That brings me back to the mother and father of four who are expecting the arrival of their fifth child next March. These young family members of mine think themselves blessed simply because they have a child on the way. But it just might be that God withholds his blessing because the couple has done things their way and not His way.
Indeed, I am reminded of a sermon by the pastor of megachurch in Northern California where my wife and I were once members. “God’s will,” the pastor said, “without God’s timing is not God’s will.”
The mother- and father-to-be have lived in poverty since they wed four and a half years ago, each bringing a four-year-old, out-of-wedlock child to the marriage. The husband currently has a $30,000-a-year job. His wife hasn’t worked in two years, and barely six months total during their four and a half years of marriage.
Yet, that didn’t stop them from having a third child three years ago and a fourth child just last year, both births of which were paid for not by the couple, but by welfare. And now they have a fifth child on the way who also will be a welfare baby.
I believe it was neither God’s will nor God’s timing for this mother- and father-to-be to bring three children into the world in addition to the two they already brought to their the marriage. And I don’t think God is going to reward this couple – to bless this couple – for the questionable choices they have made that condemn their children to poor life chances.
Does that mean the husband and wife’s four-going-on-five children should not have been brought into the world? Does it mean the children are cursed because of their parents’ bad choices? Does it mean the children will not rise about the situation into which they were born?
No, no and no.
Once conceived, no matter the circumstances, a pre-born child has a God-given right to life. And though born out of their parents’ unwise choices, God has mercy on the children. And, finally, though children be born in poverty, be raised on welfare, those of us who are Christ followers will be a blessing to the children because they did not choose their parents.
THANKS! I meant to say "pro-choice" (murder via various means).
...since I've no idea just what 'actions' may be on this fella's mind...But the Bible does not say that the actions of expectant parents can displease God, yet the arrival of their newborn guarantees the Almighty’s blessing.
In fact, it teaches us the opposite – that God does not reward parents-to-be whose actions run contrary to His divine will.
“I believe it was neither God’s will nor God’s timing for this mother- and father-to-be to bring three children into the world in addition to the two they already brought to their the marriage.” All because the father makes $30K/year.
I wonder if the author would prefer if less wealthy parents aborted...
I do notice God didn’t ask the author’s permission to give the couple another child. God is like that. He does what HE wants. Without asking a human’s approval! Imagine that!
Yet God did ask Mary via the Archangel Gabriel to be the mother of His Son. So He did ask for her YES.
“Yet God did ask Mary via the Archangel Gabriel to be the mother of His Son. So He did ask for her YES.”
Actually...
And the angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
Then the angel told her:
Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
31 Now listen:
You will conceive and give birth to a son...
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+1&version=HCSB
Not much “asking” there.
I find it quite interesting that you are criticizing the statement "God promises he'll do this-and-that if you do this" then then proceed to point out exactly that which you criticize--God promises he'll always love you, he'll always be with you, he's prepared a place for you to be with him forever.
The people you are criticizing are just pointing out other promises God has made. The promises you point out are not the only ones He made to us.
I do agree with you on your last statement--He never promised us luxury or even a pleasant life here. He did promise that He would always be with us through the hard times, but it's not an unconditional promise.
Just so, God needed that “yes”. He does not force His will.
Abraham wasn’t under the mosaic covenant as of his era.
“According to you, Scripture could say, children are a curse from the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his punishment, which sounds like the god of the pro-life crowd. “
What? You’ve been drinking? Or am I not understanding the context. Prolifers don’t say children are a curse from God. They also say that Children of a heritage of the Lord!
True - just adding some perspective - God made “deals” with some folks and expected them to have faith in His Word to them. Abraham broke that trust. He “made up for it” with his willingness to sacrifice Isaac - after God had proven Himself to Abraham and his line received the status God had promised.
What “Yes”? The angel announced what was going to happen. Heck, when John’s Dad questioned, he was struck dumb.
Remember this?
I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to His word.
I am done now debating you.
Children are always blessed, but that doesn’t necessarily apply to their parents. A rapist who impregnates his victim is not blessed. A promiscuous woman who gets pregnant is not blessed. An adulterous couple that has a child is not blessed. But their children are, despite the sins of their parents.
Children do not choose their parents and bear absolutely no responsibility for the sins or unwise choices of their parents. They are always blessed by God and, sometimes, despite the parents who brought them into the world.
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