Reimagining Pro-Life: 30 Days With Save the Storksنموونە

HEART //

From all sides, women with unplanned pregnancies are pricked by thistles of earthly worries and lies: Your life will become unbearable with a child in it. Besides, you can’t afford to raise a child by yourself! It’s better for both of you if you have an abortion. 

In a recent study, 73% of post-abortive women acknowledged pressure from others to have an abortion, and 28% admitted aborting out of fear of losing their partner if they didn’t. 66% said they knew in their hearts they were making a mistake when they underwent the abortion.

Christian and non-Christian women alike can get “choked out” — making unfruitful choices for their lives and those of their children — from the prick of this deceptive thornbush Jesus describes in today’s verse. 

We, as the Church, have the opportunity to replace those thorns with the loving touch of the Savior. We must operate as His life-giving hands, speaking His truth into our culture and helping to heal the wounds of those who have been affected by the thorns of their worries. If we truly want to empower our brothers and sisters to make life-affirming choices, they need to feel God’s love, like a balm through our presence in their lives. 

But before we can help those who have been considering, or have been affected by choosing abortion, we too must let go of the “worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth.” We must realize that the ‘need for more’ is an itch that can never be scratched. It’s an itch that distracts us from the opportunities to love others that God may be hiding for us in plain sight. God is the gardener of our hearts. When we bask in the light of His word, He pulls up the thorny weeds of self-focus and pride from our hearts. Then, He plants seeds of truth that allow us to further experience His love for us and for others. 

We know that letting go is complex, especially for younger generations. With concern for young people, pastor and author Timothy Keller once said, “From their youth culture they have imbibed not only an emotional resonance for social justice, but also a consumerism that undermines self-denial and delayed gratification.” Isn’t it true — of all of us? How can we want justice for the unborn yet be unwilling to make tangible sacrifices for them? 

In a society that tries to keep the thorny weeds well-watered, how do we unlearn the materialism and self-focus that so easily grow in the soil of our human hearts? How can we move beyond the consuming distraction of our own concerns and comforts? Letting go of any identity or purpose placed in worldly things is a good place to start. Instead, we must root our status and joy in God — the only source of true life.

It can be scary, but we only need to take one brave step at a time: reading His Word, asking honest questions, and making small changes in our daily lives. Wanting less, giving more, spending ourselves and our resources with intentionality, and learning about vulnerable people in our communities are all small, yet meaningful, steps.

// WORK

Has this first fast, which reminds us of the all-satisfying Living Water, helped you to move in the direction of letting go? We hope that occasional or wholescale fasting from all beverages besides water (or even from all food!) has helped you to be like the seed from Matthew 13:8: “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” 

Likely, there are more things than your favorite beverages that are turning your focus inwards! Ask God to show you other things in your life that consume your focus, pulling you into anxiety, fear, or pursuit of wealth or success, preventing you from loving others well. Go back to your journal today and respond to this question: What are a few “worries of this life” that you could let go of today?

You don’t want to miss this video of Victoria Robinson, Director of Community Engagement for Save the Storks, share about her abortion. It’s not easy to hear the heartache, but such a reminder of why we are engaging in this month of living and thinking differently together!