No One Could Know

Oh, the sacrifices we make in life! Parenting, for example, is not for the feeble-hearted, as most will attest. Even during pregnancy, parents stay busy making sacrifices for their coming child. From the time we learn about them into their adult lives, we save, we spend, we decorate, we sweat, we work — and, yes, labor — for the sake of our children. We sacrifice time, energy and resources to bring about a greater end.

That is, unless, the child is an unwelcome interruption. In that case, we put the child off, ignore him, sweep him under a rug and go on about our selfish ways — thereby making a sacrifice of a deeper relationship on the altar of self. But nothing is more dramatic of a sacrifice than an abortion. We sacrifice the very life of a most innocent human. But there’s more to it than that.

“Sacrifice” means to destroy or give up something for the sake of something else that you value more.

What follows is an excerpt from Chapter 12 of my book, “No One Could Know.”

Satan has been stirring the pot to slaughter infants from the time of the birth of Moses—to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, when King Herod issued a decree to put to death all of the male infants from two years old and under. (See Exodus 1:15–22 and Matthew 2:1–16.)

The kings who enacted those decrees feared their thrones would be taken by another. So, they sacrificed thousands of infants for the fear of one taking their elevated place.

Satan had another landslide victory with that renowned U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1973—Roe v. Wade.

In only 43 years, more than 55 million infants’ have been slaughtered — and even sold for parts — for the fear of their taking an elevated place in someone else’s life.

As it turns out, in 1983, alone, my baby was one of 1,575,000 American abortions reported by the Alan Guttmacher Institute of Statistics (an arm of Planned Parenthood) and one of 1,268,987 reported by the Centers for Disease Control.

I don’t know the reason for the discrepancy between the two, but even using the Guttmacher number, that’s a population the size of Philadelphia or Phoenix and double the population of the city of Detroit. It breaks down to 4,315 babies aborted every day that year. According to the most recent census, I live in a town of 5,169. Imagine the population of a small town being wiped out every day in the United States.

Or to put it another way, three babies per second were extracted from their mother’s wombs that year.

In a Youtube.com video, the Guttmacher Institute reported that one in three women will have an abortion by the time they are age 45. I wonder how many of those have felt the shame I did and how many are truly free emotionally today.

If you’re dealing with shame from anything in your life, there is freedom to be found in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:19 tells us that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.” What a profound undertaking Christ took upon Himself when He chose to be the open door to our Father in heaven.

From Chapter 11, I wrote:

He said in John 3:17, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.“

In  Mark 11:22-26, he said, “Whatever you ask when you pray, believe you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

I couldn’t bear the thought. I had trespassed big time, and faced a new choice — to forgive even myself.

I hated myself.

Choosing to forgive myself was a difficult and weighty task, not easily handed off, but another scripture came to my heart that simplified the process: 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

Casting fishing lures with a fishing pole was something I was good at doing, so I imagined myself hurling my cares into God’s lake of forgiveness, then cutting the taut line never to reel it in to my shoreline again.

As I rested there in bed that morning listening to the radio message, I wept as I sensed His caring Father-like love for me. I at last heaved my final cares over on Him—God, the One who was, and is so willing to set aside my sin and welcome me into His strong arms of mercy and renewal.

The weight lifted. My burden was gone.

Hardly a day has passed that I don’t think about the fact that I have a child in heaven, but the weight of sin is not there anymore. Jesus Christ has set me free.

Are you struggling to be free of your past — even if that “past” was only a few moments ago? God is quick to forgive when we come to Him in the Name of Jesus Christ. When we are quick to repent, we keep our hearts open for His light to shine in the dark crevices of our souls and bring fresh healing. He makes all things new.

You can pray something like this: “Father, I come to you in the Name of Jesus and ask you to forgive me. I see that you are a good God, full of love, mercy, and tender-loving kindness. You said in 1 John 1:9, ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ So, I take you at your word, lay this at your feet and choose to walk away wholly free, with You.”

REMEMBER THIS NEXT STEP: Every time you think of that past issue, remind yourself that He has forgiven you and worship Him for it … making a different kind of sacrifice, altogether. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Hebrews 13:5

Then, quickly change your mind to think about something positive.

 “We are taking prisoners of every thought, every emotion, and subduing them into obedience to the Anointed One.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 (The Voice.)

And you’ll soon find yourself breathing again on the other side of the pain, able to throw a life preserver to someone else.