“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'”
1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)
“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.“
In this passage, God has sent Samuel to go and appoint a king. Not just any king, either, but a king who will become part of the lineage that God’s own Son will claim when the events of the Christmas story come to pass.
Samuel is ready to annoint one of David’s brothers who looks like a king in his eyes, but God stops him. Son after son was denied, as God refuses to release His annointing until David finally comes in from the fields.
The rest, as they say, is history.
In many abortion debates, some will argue that abortion is a necessary evil when an unborn child is deemed unhealthy… as though infirmity alone could remove dignity and worth from a person. Many hold up poverty as a possible justification for an unborn child’s death.
But you and I? We know that no human frailty can possibly overwrite what the Lord has planned.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul writes, “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
In our lifetimes, we will never see the same entirety of a person that the Lord sees. He sees the hearts of the unborn””that He crafted with His own hands””the moment they first beat, and He knows the desires that He has set in their spirits.
We need to trust God’s purposes.
How can we presume to say who is worthy and who is unworthy of even the most basic dignity of a chance to live? That’s worldly logic, and we need to reject it soundly.
I’m not saying we don’t need to address the problems that might keep that child and his or her family from thriving, that might drive a mother or father to desperate measures when faced with any number of hard pregnancy circumstances. But abortion doesn’t solve problems. It just tries to give us permission to stop thinking and talking about them.
That’s part of why we’re leaning hard into being a Pro Abundant Life people. Because we want to leave the “people sorting” to God, and start just worrying about how to love them like He commanded us.
This week, please join me as I pray:
- To repent of those times where we’ve engaged in people sorting, rather than seeing everyone as the people God formed in the womb and Christ loved so much that He died for them.
- For women and men who feel unseen and forgotten as they struggle with a pregnancy that they feel is “bad news” or who are struggling after an abortion. That we and our Christian brothers and sisters would be swift to help them turn to the infinite strength and serenity that Jesus offers to those who follow Him, and support them as they walk forward.
- For the unborn babies who, right at this very minute, are in danger of losing their lives because they have been devalued because of their health or gender or economic status. May God come in mighty ways to preserve and sustain them, and may we cherish them as He does.
Miss a week? Catch up here:
Week 1: /get-involved-blog/never-too-insignificant
Week 2: /get-involved-blog/unneccessary-faith
Week 3: /get-involved-blog/about-hope