The young woman drove down the street filled with people in prayer, all wearing aqua t-shirts that said Love Life. The scene might normally have brought her joy, having just committed her life to God. Nonetheless, her heart was heavy. She was about to do something she knew was wrong, but here she was. The graphic signs of aborted babies made the guilt she had already been feeling even greater. How could she sit in church as an unwed mom? The condemnation would be more than she could bear. Just do the surgical abortion and get it over with once and for all.
She stopped when one of the Cities4Life sidewalk counselors waved to her. She wasn’t sure herself why she stopped. The counselor handed her a booklet with photos of babies in the womb. She was kind, and told the troubled young lady that there was help available. The woman took the booklet and went in to the clinic lot. She glanced through the booklet and saw the back page...a photo of an aborted baby. The baby was dismembered through the violence of a surgical abortion.
No. She would not do the surgical abortion. She would do the pill— the medical abortion.
The moment she swallowed the pill, she was overcome with remorse and regret. What had she done? Her sorrow and anguish grew as the day went on. She researched on the internet if there was any way the baby could still be saved if she didn’t take the second course of pills. She found a site, abortionpillreversal.com. The next morning, she called the hotline which connected her to my friend and nurse trained in the abortion pill reversal protocol, Courtney. Courtney and I were sitting together at a graduation ceremony. Courtney texted me: Want to counsel an abortion pill reversal client?
I texted back immediately: YES!
We met the woman later that day at Monroe HELP Pregnancy Center She poured out a story of a lifetime of pain, rejection, and feelings of worthlessness that had led her to this moment. However, she decided she could not let sin reign any longer. She would take a stand and do what all the signs had been urging her to do: try to save her baby.
She told me that she had just committed her life to God and it was because a church had extended so much love and acceptance. She said everyone always talks about sin but they don’t live a life of love. “Just love others and let that be the testimony of Christ.” she said.
Some of you may be nodding but I was quaking. I feel a DEEP burden to share the truth of Christ. No one understands the need for Christ if they don’t understand the horrific nature of sin or have rationalized and minimized the reality of personal sin. And this woman, like so many other people we encounter at the abortion center, was leading a life of sin which is what had landed her in the midst of all her despair. Would it be love not to point her to truth? If Jesus is Lord, we are to obey Him. That is what Jesus Himself warns us.
So I prayed as Courtney showed the young woman her baby on the ultrasound. That little one’s heart was beating. He was still alive. One prayer answered. Now Lord, show me how to speak truth in love that this woman would see the life she is leading is not honoring to God and will only land her back in deeper trouble down the road.
Unfortunately, I could speak from experience. I began telling her my own story as an atheist who knew the stark difference from living life without God to living life obeying God. I told her I looked back on those Godless days with horror and regret. The woman was interested and wanted to know what had caused me to decide to follow Jesus. Through my story, I was able to share the truth of the Gospel and the critical necessity of recognizing if Jesus is Lord, we must do as He says.
That allowed me to discuss sexual sin and the need to submit our lives to God in this as well as every other area of our life. I was shocked when she agreed.
“I know you need to be enveloped in love,” I told her, “And I totally agree that those who follow Christ should speak in love. But it is not love to cover sin or to shrink from telling those on a path of destruction that this is not the way God would have them go.”
The woman again agreed and told me it was easier to receive what Courtney and I had to say because of two things: we had sacrificed our time and energy to help her, and our tone was one of kindness.
This is not to pat ourselves on the back. It is to encourage all of us who labor in the Lord. The young lady identified so many key points in reaching the lost:
1. Show the truth. Those graphic signs of aborted babies changed her heart and convicted her of sin. The decision to not do a surgical abortion, which would have been irreversible, hinged on the truth of those signs.
2. Talking the talk is NOT enough. You must sacrifice your time, energy, and resources for those in need if you want to reach the world for Christ.
3. Condemnation will only push others away. Speak truth, but speak in a tone that is unmistakably loving.
4. Trust God. Trust His way is best and His words bring life and hope. NEVER shirk from sharing the life redeeming words of the Bible.
As I drove home, the woman texted me, thanking us again. Now we pray for that little baby and the effectiveness of the abortion pill reversal protocol. But also, we pray that a young woman who seems to be on the right track with God will not be derailed again by the obstacles of this world.
*********
Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.