Miscarriage, Disability, & God’s Glory

Did you have a miscarriage? Do you have a mentally or physically disabled child? Did you get pregnant when you were not planning to? What a comfort to know that no child is conceived or born without a purpose!

First of all, no child is conceived without a purpose.

If you are pregnant, it was not an accident that the baby in your womb was conceived, even if you were not planning to get pregnant. God planned your child’s conception! Now those of you who had a miscarriage might ask, “What was God’s purpose then in the life of our child who died in the womb?” I don’t know the exact answer, but what I do know is that according to Psalm 135:6, “The LORD does whatever pleases him.” And since God does whatever is glorifying to him, we can say that ultimately God took your child for God’s own glory. I recognize that what I have just told you is not always easy to understand and accept. But as one song says, “God is too wise to be mistaken; God is too good to be unkind; So when you don’t understand; When you don’t see His plan; When you can’t trace His hand; Trust His heart.”

My wife and I also had a miscarriage in October of 2011, and a few months later Anna (our first child) was conceived. If we had not had a miscarriage, Anna would not have been born. In November of 2013 we had another miscarriage, and after few weeks James (our second child) was conceived. Think of this: Two unborn babies died, so that Anna and James might live. This truth reminds me of what happened at Calvary where the eternal Son of God died so that those who believe in him might live forever. There at Calvary it pleased God the Father to bruise his own Son, so that those who believe in his Son might not be bruised in hell but be blessed in heaven (Isa. 53:10). The Apostle Paul puts it this way, “He [God the Father] did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32). God did not spare his Son so that He could spare those who put their faith in his Son Jesus Christ.

Second, no child is born without a purpose.

Parents who have a mentally or physically disabled child may say, “What is God’s purpose then in the life of our disabled child?” The answer is the same: so that through your child’s disability, God’s glory might be displayed. Remember the man born blind in John 9:1-3. In that passage the disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus replied, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” No one sinned. God is simply exercising his absolute prerogative to do whatever glorifies him. And in this context, God glorifies himself by showing his sovereignty over his creatures. To further illustrate my point, let me share this story that I heard from my mother-in-law.

There was a God-fearing woman in the Netherlands who had a child born to her that was totally disabled. The child could not walk, could not talk, and could not respond. The child lay this way for 18 years. One day, as the mother stood, looking at her child, she felt rebellion and despair in her heart, and said out loud, “Why were you ever created? Why were you ever born?” All of a sudden, this child who never spoke, said, “To glorify God forever.” And then, the child died.

Oh, what a lesson for that mother and for us!

Note: This post is taken from my sermon entitled “Abortion: Pro-choice or Pro-life.” Here’s a video excerpt from that message: