No One Could Know

If being patient was simple, everyone would be patient, right? But like all good character traits, it takes, well, patience to weave patience into your personality. Even the most laid-back people can be knotted inside while appearing ‘chill’ on the outside.

2016 has filled those of us in the pro-life world with immense highs, but also with lows that have tried our patience. But the battle does not belong to us — it belongs to the Lord. He is, after all, maker of heaven and earth, and told us Himself that the battle belongs to Him. But even He did not create the world in one day. He was patient like a skilled artist painting a masterpiece.

Have you ever created a project of some sort only to have it ruined, broken, or destroyed by someone else? If you’ve put any heart into it at all, when you see your creation crumble, pain courses through your body. You’ve invested emotionally. You’ve invested time and resources. Perhaps you’ve even been honored for your work. But if years of sweat have been poured into something you cherish and then it’s dismissed, diminished or disdained by others, the joy can sometimes not carry the weight you’d expected — especially if jabs come from those you care about.

I’d imagine that’s how God feels every time His newly created humans are aborted.

Iowa State Representative Steven Holt told me recently that 12 children are aborted every day in Iowa. He has fought hard for years to protect unborn Iowans.

“For too many years since Roe v Wade, we’ve been fighting on the enemies’ ground using their words,” Holt said. “The only way we’re going to win this is with the science that is on our side. An unborn person is separate from the mother’s body – science tells us that. DNA, a heartbeat and pain that is felt a few weeks in clearly show that we’re talking about a human being. The pro-choice group knows they’re losing this argument.”

Holt (pictured left with me) and others worked unsuccessfully this legislative term to defund abortion giant Planned Parenthood. But the battle is not over entirely. Holt and his colleagues are relentless.

Jill Stanek remains steadfast as well. I met Stanek recently when she was a guest speaker at a pro-life event in Red Oak, Iowa. Stanek was a nurse at Christ Hospital in rural Chicago and saw barbaric things take place before her eyes. She said about one third of the babies who were aborted survived outside the womb, but were left alone to die.

“I thought I’d be safe from moral and unethical practices like abortion at a place called Christ Hospital, but I found out they aborted even late-term pregnancies,” she said. “I also learned that if babies were born alive, they’d be left to die in a separate room. The very place these abortions were taking place was at a hospital named after my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

One night, Stanek saw a coworker take an abortion survivor to the soiled utility room to die.

“I couldn’t bear the thought of the suffering child dying alone, so I rocked him for the remaining 45 minutes of his life,” Stanek said. “I remember seeing his heart beating through his chest because the skin is so thin at 22 weeks old.”

The feelings of helplessness flooded her soul. She tenderly wrapped him in a shroud and took him to the morgue, where all the dead patients were taken. The weight of what was happening in her midst became too much for her to bear. She looked to the Word of God for answers and there received her “marching orders” from the Lord:

“Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death. Don’t excuse yourself by saying, ‘Look, we didn’t know.’ For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.” Proverbs 24:11-12

Stanek chose to become a pro-life warrior and is now an activist, speaker and writer and works as the national campaign chair for the Susan B. Anthony List.

As we fight for the unborn — and to bring healing to those who’ve been through pain, of this we can be certain: The Lord will have His victory in the end.

2 Corinthians 2:14  Now thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ.