As you know, I have taken a break from writing my morning devotions lately for a lot of reasons. There have been so many things weighing so heavily on my heart, I needed some time and space to be still and sit with Jesus. As a result, my first post back is a lengthy one.
If you have followed my page and read my writing for a while, you know my background. I minored in political science and spent years in politics. I used to be very quick to tell anyone who would listen, “Yep! I’m a Republican.” I worked on state level campaigns, Congressional campaigns and I even worked on President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign.
The past few years I have been politically homeless. But as my mentor in politics once told me, “You can take the girl out of politics, but you’ll never be able to take the politics out of the girl.” Boy, was she right.
Even though I find myself without a political label these days, I am still immersed in politics. I guess everyone is.
This is a topic that has weighed so heavily on my heart for quite some time now, and I spent years seeking a way to make a difference, studying scripture and wrestling with God in prayer over how I could deal with this one particular subject that seems to be an extremely “hot topic” with regards to political issues. I have wept over this matter, and this is where God nudged my heart when I prayed, “How could my vote have an impact with regards to this issue?”
The answer I received from His Holy Spirit had nothing, whatsoever, to do with voting for or against a candidate with regards to abortion.
For me personally, I am pro-life. I have never had an abortion. In addition, I am pro-life from womb to tomb, and I believe we as Christians need to be doing a better job of this. I’ll save the womb to tomb topic for another day. Today, I want to talk specifically about the “pro-life regarding abortion topic.”
One of the things I have learned over time about abortion is, it is not always women who have an unwanted/unplanned pregnancy who have an abortion. Sometimes, women who have miscarried but cannot miscarry, completely on their own, need to have a dilation and curettage. A small amount of internet research will provide you with plenty of articles and medical journals explaining this was something hospitals did not allow doctors to perform prior to Roe v. Wade.
First, I want you to understand this post is not about asking you to change your mind about abortion. To me, this should be left up to the states, and more importantly, between a woman and her doctor, because not all abortions are “unwanted” or “unplanned” pregnancies. I have read countless stories about women who miscarried, but could not miscarry completely, and had to have this procedure performed, and how some doctors were restricted (prior to Roe v. Wade) in doing so, even though the woman could go into septic shock and die.
This post is not about going before the Supreme Court and asking them not to overturn Roe v. Wade for the health and safety of women everywhere.
This post is about the way I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart and asking me, “What about loving those women?” This post is about showing Jesus to an agonized, hurting group of people.
This is about the women who have already had abortions that you and I might encounter. This post is about the women who might one day have an abortion, that you and I might encounter.
Standing with megaphones and shouting about murder and spewing hate does not remind these women (and the men with them) of the love, grace, forgiveness and redemption of Jesus Christ.
Do I believe abortion is wrong? Of course I do. Do I believe the woman who has an abortion is doomed for hell and should be shunned by the church? I most certainly do not.
Friends, it is our job to be a blanket of grace to the people who are hurting around us. I cannot imagine being in the woman’s shoes who, for whatever reason, made the decision to have an abortion. The guilt, the shame, the anguish, the heartache, the turmoil … emotions many of us will never grasp or fathom.
But some of you may have been that woman. Some of you may know someone who was that woman. Some of you may yet to meet someone who was that woman.
That woman needs to be reminded she is covered by the love of Jesus.
That woman needs to be reminded she can and will be forgiven, when she simply asks Him for forgiveness. That woman needs to be reminded that our Jesus restores. He redeems. He rescues.
While we can take up our cause for not supporting abortion, I pray that we, the church (remember, when we leave the building on Sundays, you and I are the church) will do a better job of loving the women who already feel shunned. I pray we will not be so loud in our crusade to end abortion that we do not speak softly enough to be a witness to the woman who had an abortion and is devastated and feels lost and hopeless.
I pray that we, the church, will remind those who feel unworthy of God’s love, that there is not a single one of us who are blameless or worthy of His love. Yet He covers us with it, daily.
“Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.” When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’- Luke 15: 1-6 (NLT)
Friends, there are hurting women out there who represent that lost sheep. And I’m afraid too many of us represent the Pharisees, quoting religious law, but not quoting Jesus.
Jesus leaves the 99 to go out and find the one who is lost, wandering, hurting and alone. And then He celebrates rescuing that one.
Jesus wants us to do that, too. We should be seeking the one who is lost and wandering and rather than shame them, we should cover them with love and lavish them with reminders of the goodness of God’s love.
“Oh the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. Oh it chases me down, fights til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine. I couldn’t earn it. I don’t deserve it, still You give Yourself away…” (Cory Asbury’s Reckless Love lyrics).
I pray we do not get so consumed with the causes and the policies that we forget to consume ourselves with and extend the love and grace of Jesus to the people around us.