Insert Your Greatest Fear
By Natalie Bailey, Administrative Assistant
When we hold certain convictions to be truth, at times it can give us blinders as to the experiences or realities of other people’s lives. I was personally confronted with this when I found myself in a study of the book of Leviticus. It references a Canaanite practice of sacrificing one’s own children to their god, Molek. But God commands His people not to be like the Canaanites, however after years of living in community with them and their culture, we read that some Israelites began participating in the ritual of child sacrifice. As I read about these ancient practices, I felt such shock that people would allow for the death of their children to this false god. My thoughts bounced from “How ridiculous and stupid must they be?” to “There is nothing I could imagine that would lead me to kill my precious two children.”
And yet, this was occurring with people that are far more like me than I was willing to admit. I have the same sinful nature as those Israelites, so I think the better question to be considering is what circumstances existed, or what lies had been exchanged for the truth, that would convince a person that the best solution for obstacles they were facing would be to kill their child. Perhaps they were experiencing fear and uncertainty, perhaps it was for status and reputation, or maybe it was out of hopelessness and desperation. While the root may have varied, the resulting act was tragic.
It would be easy to simply stop at my feelings of sorrow and disgust toward the Israelites’ child sacrificing practice, but instead in His compassion, God calls me to insert my own greatest fear. What do I wrongly believe I could not live without and what extreme measures would I take to ensure I don’t have to? Are there choices I regret making as I have protected my own idols?
God spends so much time in Scripture telling us to examine our own hearts. When we stop and consider the condition of our own sin, when we recognize how far from His good ways we line up and how often we root our hopes in something besides Him, it’s suddenly not so difficult to see how the Israelites felt desperate enough to sacrifice to the false god, Molek. And yet despite my propensity to wander, I have a God in heaven who loves me so much, He sent His son to die for me.
In this cultural moment we find ourselves yet again sacrificing our children at altars. Not altars to the false god Molek, but to the idols of comfort, success, freedom, and security. In an often desperate, confused and hopeless state many believe that there is no other alternative to an unplanned pregnancy except abortion. It made me wonder, what are the circumstances and what lies have they been told that would make them believe that in order to achieve the best life possible, they need to end their unborn child’s life?
Through your support of Pregnancy Care Center, you are giving a sanctuary for women and men facing unplanned pregnancy and a place of refuge and rest in a noisy, chaotic world. You’re providing a place that meets them where they are, and helps them wade through the lies, fears, and hurdles that are in front of them. This is a place that shows them the inherent value of every life, including their own. You’re helping them cut through the desperation with hope that is only found in Christ. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for providing our patients with pregnancy solutions, practical resources, and the caring support they need, so that rather than just surviving, they can thrive.