In ALL Things

As Christians, we are told we ought to trust God. And I suppose in a lot of ways we at least attempt to. We often fail in our attempts, but we are human. Trying to trust that which we cannot see is a stretch for some (if not all of us) at times (if not all the time).

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

the conviction of things not seen."

Hebrews 11:1

I fully admit that there are areas of my life where the whole trusting God thing is not something I do well. Particularly the whole "in all things" part. I do okay with giving Him pieces, but the whole pie? Puh-lease.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make straight your paths."

Proverbs 3:5-6

This whole trust thing isn't easy. You would think it would be, but you would be wrong. It just doesn't seem natural to be okay with whatever the omniscient God of the universe may have happen. Indeed it can be counter-intuitive, and definitely counter-cultural.

But where I take issue is in Christian circles when it seems like there is criticism coming at you for trying to trust God with certain things. With the most precious things. The things that aren't really things at all, but little, baby human beings.

We live in a culture very blessed by advances of modern medicine that are often nothing short of miraculous. Doctors and scientists know more about the human body today than they probably did at any point previously in history. And while this is a good thing, I daresay it can also be a dangerous thing.

Because, at the end of the day, doctors are still human, and they still make mistakes. And God is still God, and when we put our trust in something before Him, we discredit His ability to take care of us.

That's not to say that God doesn't use the field of medicine when doing miracles. But it is to say that I think sometimes, whether we intend to or not, we don't trust God enough. Particularly with pregnancy.

We live in a world which has come to be very populated over the span of countless generations without all the pregnancy care we currently see in our country today. We are constantly bombarded with the message that as women, we can't possibly be capable of carrying a child in our body and delivering without some medical professional intervening in the process in some way. We are told that we can't trust our bodies to do the very thing God designed a woman's body to do -- to bear the very children He created to be the next generation. And possibly worse yet, those of us who try to trust this truly amazing, God-designed process of pregnancy and child birth are criticized for not caring about the children we bear.

I expect that from our country's culture. But it bothers me to see and hear it coming from other believers. From the other people who are supposed to not only have faith in our Almighty God, but encourage you to keep the faith when the world wants you to question it.

My wanting to pursue pregnancy and childbirth as the extraordinairy process God designed it to be doesn't mean that I don't care for my child. That could not be further from the truth. I feel strongly that the best thing for this child is that I pursue the process of pregnancy as a trusting in God thing and that in doing so, I care very deeply for the children I carry.

Maybe it is the fact that some people frown on us for not getting every possible prenatal test to tell us everything we can possibly need to know before the baby is born. (Even though there are tons of stories out there about these tests not always being accurate.) It's a trust thing...because even if there is something "wrong" with our child, he/she is fearfully and wonderfully made by a God far superior to any problems we could potentially face, and we know that He will get us through problems foreseen and unseen. When our results came back slightly not "normal" for the standard tests they typically do on all pregnant people, we got super stressed about it, only to find out there was nothing to worry about. We learned that faith was far more important than the fears we faced.

"For You formed my inward parts;

You knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise You, for I am fearfully and

wonderfully made. Wonderful are

Your works; my soul knows it very well."

Psalm 139:13-14

Maybe it is because we have been shocked at how many people can get hateful about us choosing to not know the gender of our unborn child. It's a trust thing...because we want to love the kid God gives us, regardless of boy/girl, and if we really needed to know prior to baby being born, He could tell us in a dream (or put a window on my belly). I personally love surprises and am not a huge fan of a lot of the gender stereotypes placed on kids by our culture, and in the end, I feel like we have had tons of fun not knowing.

Maybe it is because I feel strongly that God knows the perfect time for this amazing little person to enter into this world, and that may or may not be a time that is convenient for anyone, including me. It's a trust thing...because if that baby is happy and healthy inside of me, then that is the God-ordained place he/she should be until the time God has determined to be "ready". It isn't about my personal comfort or what time of day the doctor wants to work...it's about believing the best place for my baby is growing inside of me so that the baby can be the most "ready" he/she can be. It isn't even about how many weeks/days/hours pregnant we assume I am, because every person and pregnancy is different. I have friends who go into labor "early" and there are others who tend to be "late". To each His own timing has been put into place. My waiting for His ideal time doesn't make me a bad mother.

"For everything there is a season,

and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die..."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Maybe it is because I refuse any interventions that aren't absolutely necessary to ensure the life of my baby and that is met with rather harsh criticism from many in the medical field (as well as many who are not). If intervening becomes something that has to happen, we will try to tackle those decisions with prayer as they happen and by being as well informed as we can hope to be. It's a trust thing...because I not only believe, but have experienced, the miraculous process of completely natural childbirth and know wholeheartedly that God designed each little bit of it and my body to be utterly dependent on Him to get through it. It is gruelling but it is something we as women are completely capable of when we come to Him. With my firstborn, labor was so long that by the time we were nearing the end, it had been over 36 hours since I had slept. I was exhausted to the point that once my contractions eased up some, I was able to fall asleep briefly between them, which gave me the extra boost of energy I needed to push an above average sized baby out of me. Just days earlier, a doctor had told me I wasn't capable of such a feat and had offered to "cut the baby out of me" and had even go so far as to schedule the surgery (even though I told him I would be a no-show).

"Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

Call it unconventional, as the rest of the culture does, but I believe strongly that God is in control, even in the difficult task that is birthing a new life into this world. It can be challenging in the chaos of contractions to truly lean on that trust. It can be tempting to ask for interventions. And I am not implying that all interventions are bad...sometimes there is a legitimate life or death need that requires an intervention medically. Those are times we must thank God for the wisdom of the medical personnel that he has on hand to help. But, what if we, as fellow believers, built each other up, instead of tearing one another down when the question of trusting God and His superior timing and design in the process of pregnancy comes into play. What if, rather, than relying so heavily upon medical professionals to dictate our each and every move in our pregnancies, we made decisions based on trusting God to see it through? What if we first asked Him to intervene, rather than seek immediate medical interventions? What if we based our decisions on trusting God with this little life than always following doctor's orders, especially when those orders aren't anything absolutely medically necessary to ensure baby's safety? What if we gave God back the control rather than relying on medical technologies that until very recent history, women were able to bring babies into the world without?

#God #trust #InAllThings #Pregnancy #Baby #Doctor