As I reflect on this amazing story, I can’t help but wonder how many women have been coerced by their health care providers into ending the life of a baby who had “no chance of survival”–and how many more stories like this we might hear, if more of us had the faith and trust in God that this family has.
“Don’t be afraid, have faith.” Mark 5:36
Let’s face it–having babies requires a lot of faith. Some women prefer to put their faith in the medical establishment–obstetricians, anesthesiologists, hospitals, and technology. They prefer the feeling of safety and comfort that comes from trusting the professionals.
Other women reject the modern medical model, choosing to have their babies at home with a midwife…or maybe even without one. They cry out, “Trust your body! TRUST BIRTH!”
Now, I’ve had a hospital birth–an emergency c-section–and two homebirths. I’m a pretty big advocate of homebirth, actually, and while I am uncomfortable with the idea of blindly trusting a doctor, I must realize that it is equally foolish to naively “trust birth.”
Rather, I must put my faith and trust in the One who created my body and created my baby. Birth was His idea. Of course, there are pain and suffering, and sometimes heartache and tragedy that come with childbirth, ever since Adam and Eve sinned against God in Genesis 3. Still, God has ordained that the human race should continue on through procreation, and we as women are given the profound and mysterious calling to carry and bear these, His children, who are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
Whatever birth choices we make, we must recognize that the LORD of all creation is most certainly LORD of our births. Anything we do should be the outgrowth of our faith in God alone–not in a doctor, or a hospital, or a midwife, or our bodies, or a mystical, sometimes heavily personified force known as “birth.”
As I feel this precious little one moving and kicking inside me, I realize that I am not in control.
I do not know how this birth will turn out. I do not know when I will go into labor or if my labor will be long or short.
I do not know if it will be blissful and easy, or if it will be complicated and require us to transfer to the hospital.
And while I am praying and trusting God for a good birth and a healthy baby, and planning toward that end, there is always in the back of my mind the reality that there are things that happen that are outside my control.
“Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
When I start to worry, I must cling tight to my Heavenly Father, who is indeed knitting this little one together in my womb (Psalm 139:13)…
…and I can’t even knit a sweater.
Mary\'s Anawim 
This is very encouraging.
It is more encouraging for post-menopausal women who are due to have babies miraculously.
Elizabeth, Sarah and Samson’s mother were all women who have birth to children in old age.
Did you know this is going on even today?
Infertility and barreness can be healed by Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God is good all the time.
Barbara