The childless man or woman
Children, God tells us, are a heritage from the Him. Is the man or woman to whom He gives no children therefore disinherited? Surely not. the Lord gave portions of land to each tribe of Israel except one. “The tribe of Levi... received no holding; the Lord God of Israel is their portion, as He promised them” (Joshua 3:14, REB). Withholding what He granted to the rest, He gave to Levi a higher privilege. May we not see childlessness in the same light? I believe there is a special gift for those to whom God does not give the gift of physical fatherhood or motherhood.
A woman of about fifty wrote, “Each
Mothers Day became a little harder for me as I realized another year had gone
by and after many years of marriage I am still childless- the only woman in my
Sunday School class who is not a mother. The morning service started... I could
not see the pastor for the tears in my eyes. Almost at the end of his message
he said, ‘I know there are some of you women here this morning who would like
to be mothers, but for some reason God has chosen differently. Don’t question
Him. He has a reason.”
Childlessness for those who
deeply desire children, is suffering. Seen in the light of Calvary and accepted
in the name of Christ, it becomes a chance to share in His sufferings. Acceptance
of the will of Father took Him to the cross. We find our peace as we identify
with Him in His death and resurrection.
Look around your church. If you
are a parent, look for those who aren’t. Might they not be ready to “father” or
“mother” you or your children, to be adopted as a grandparent, for example, or
an aunt or uncle? My life was enriched by unmarried aunts and friends who paid
attention to us children, celebrated our birthdays and sometimes even helped us
with homework. The love they would have poured out on their own children had God
given them marriage, the poured out on us and we were blessed as we could not
have been had they had children. Their loss was our gain, and, as Ugo Bassi
said, we are so measure our lives “by loss and not by gain; not by the wine
drunk but by the wine poured forth, for Love’s strength standeth in Love’s
sacrifice, and he who suffereth most hath most to give.”
What of the thousand who have not
had the mothers and fathers they desperately longed for while they were growing
up? Is not God calling all whose ears are open to Him to recognize the wounds
of the world and to pour forth His love to the lonely young man whose
relationship with his father seems to have destroyed his fitness for manhood? Or
to the expectant mother whose own mother is far away, or indifferent, or dead,
who longs for a mother to share her joy? Whose will be the strong should of
sympathy (the word means “to suffer with”)
ready to bear another’s burdens? – not with the tepid sentimentality which only
weakens, but with the burning love which gives hope and cheer and strength?
My correspondent says God has given
her “several kids adopted in my heart to pray for whose mothers say they haven’t
time to pray.” Another girl asked her to be grandmother to her new baby. “Well,
what a blessing and how this has changed my life!” she says. “If I had sat
around and felt sorry for myself look at the above blessing I would have
missed. What a thrill on Mother’s Day this year to get a Grandmother card!”
And what of the young childless woman? Is she merely to
mark time, hoping against hope that someday she will be given a child? There are
always younger people who need a boost, some encouragement in their struggles against
the pull of the world, a listening ear when they face hard decisions, someone
who will simply take time out from his own concerns to pray with them, to walk
with them the way of the Cross with its tremendous demand- the difficult and powerful
life of glad surrender and acceptance. As the branches of the vine pour out
their sweetness so young women may see their opportunity, as branches of the
True Vine, to pour out their lives for the world.
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