Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
proverbs 13:12
Desperation leads to decisions that usher in great regret. I’ll never forget one young woman who in a moment of desperation made the quick decision to abort her child. She was in her early twenties and believed the lie that she just couldn’t have her baby right now. She drove herself to the abortion clinic, paid the money to have the clinic worker take the life of her baby and found herself immediately filled with overwhelming grief. I saw her a few days later and she collapsed in my arms with tears and uttered, “Oh how I wish I could go back. I would have made a different choice. I don’t know what to do now.”
She was overcome with grief and pain. Her desperation brought her hopelessness. She feared things would never be right again and what she thought was the answer to her problems became her overwhelming grief. This had become a defining moment in her life. It was a line of before and after.
We can all think back to times in our lives where we wish we could go back and make a different decision – how one act, one decision, one belief changed everything.
Hopelessness and despair is a sickness permeating our culture in devastating numbers. In fact, one such study reveals that there is a decreased life-expectancy in our country due to “diseases of despair.” (1)
When individuals choose abortion, often times regret and grief settles into their hearts. They may believe that they will feel this way for the rest of their lives. When we are left without the option to undo a regretful decision and experience the consequences of our actions playing out in our lives, despair can quickly become the unwanted voice in our minds. It robs us of joy, peace, dreams and hope.
Yet, with Jesus, He offers new life, redemption, forgiveness, restoration and more. Isaiah 43:18-19 reveals His character, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
The enemy of our soul wants us to live in our past, immobilized by fear and regret. Yes, there are things of our past that we will remember. Yet, the Lord wants to bring His healing and wholeness to His creation. He desires that our memories are wrapped in His grace and mercy.
As His Church we are called to be conduits of His healing. When a church offers post-abortion Bible studies or actively promotes and refers individuals to a pregnancy resource center’s post-abortion Bible studies, we see hope ushered in. We know Jesus’ work on the cross triumphs any and all disastrous decisions we make.
If you are interested in starting a post-abortion Bible study at your church, peruse our Resource Guide HERE for suggestions for studies as well as training programs for Bible study leaders.
May we be a conduit of hope to a world in despair.
