Church bulletin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leah had multiple miscarriages in our hope for children. These were hard times. When we felt ready to tell others both inside and outside the church, it quickly became apparent that it is an issue affecting many couples. It is far more common that one might think. Down through history the world is no stranger to the loss of children, infant mortality has been quite high and in this day and age with abortion rates I wouldn\u2019t like to think about the exact numbers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It seems to me that this type of grief is not often addressed for one reason or another, it may be because we simply don\u2019t know what to say. As Christians we need to look to the scriptures in everything, and miscarriage is no exception. While it’s often said that scripture doesn’t directly address this issue, and to some extent, we must agree, we cannot be absolutely dogmatic. Are there insights that we can glean? I suggest there are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark 10:13-18 describes the disciples\u2019 indignant reaction to children being brought to Jesus and are quickly rebuked by Him. Verse 16 includes a small detail that we may miss, it says that \u201cHe took them in His arms\u201d<\/em>. Luke\u2019s account in 18:15-20 includes the words \u201cthey were bringing even infants to Him\u201d.<\/em> Jesus was gentle in giving particular attention to the young. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The well-known account of David and the death of his child in 2 Samuel 12:23 records David\u2019s response to his servants when he says \u201ccan I bring him (the child) back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me\u201d.<\/em> It is commonly understood to mean that David would be reconciled with the child when he himself inevitably dies. Compare this with David\u2019s reaction to the death of his other son (grown) Absalom who was killed by Joab, 2 Samuel 18:33 \u201cO my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n In wonderful poetic words Ecclesiastes compares a rich man and a stillborn child \u2013 Ecc 6:5. \u201cMoreover, it (child) has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he\u201d<\/em>. This may sound insensitive at first, our assumptions are that the rich who achieved everything a person could desire far outweighs a life that barely got started with no possibility of attaining such possessions. But the author is actually using this example to turn our views of riches and prosperity on their head. The child, though it never had money, possessions or prestige, still finds rest with God, something the rich man in all his things and pursuits does not possess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is an emphasis in scripture whereby God places great responsibility upon those who ought to know better but have turned their back on Him, all the while painting a picture of a gentle and loving father to the weak and needy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, there is much more to be said and as already mentioned, scripture does not directly address the issue of miscarriage. However, even as some questions may linger, the scriptures do indicate great compassion displayed by our God in this area. One thing is for sure; we can echo the psalmist in psalm 107:35 \u201cHe turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.\u201d<\/em> May He bring beauty out of ashes for anyone affected by miscarriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan Stroud <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Church bulletin: Leah had multiple miscarriages in our hope for children. These were hard times. When we felt ready to tell others both inside and outside the church, it quickly …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":8496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8365"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8500,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8365\/revisions\/8500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdreformedbaptist.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}