Focal Passage: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
Abby Johnson is a convincing advocate for the unborn. Why? In her compelling book Unplanned, Abby chronicles her journey into and out of Planned Parenthood. She became involved with this agency because she was deeply concerned about the health of women.
Prenatal care, birth control, and other reproductive services were important to her, and she believed abortions were justified as long as they were rare, early-term, and safe. She vehemently opposed late-term abortions, and would not let her clinic perform them.
But Abby knew the business she had invested into was full of contradictions, just like her own personal life. In her younger adulthood Abby had been promiscuous; twice she chose to end her pregnancies through abortion. This haunted her, but God had given her a wonderful pro-life husband named Doug, and together they would have a beautiful baby daughter named Grace. Abby was living in two worlds, and what eventually caused her to decide for life was her personal involvement in an ultrasound-guided abortion. That experience devastated her. And when she started believing that Planned Parenthood was more concerned about making money off abortions than providing health and healing, she left. God removed the scales that were blinding her eyes.
The sanctity of human life is an important issue for Christians, and not just for the unborn. An equally sacred arena for Christian care and comfort is for those at the other end of life, for those about to die. The psalmist speaks to the fact that we have an all-knowing (omniscient) and ever-present God. He knows everything there is to know about us, and has personally planned our lives (v. 16).
We are not an accident. We are not unworthy. We are special in God’s eyes, and “all” life should be viewed as special in our eyes. The psalmist also cautions us regarding how we live. God sees all, knows all, and whether we do right or wrong, we cannot get away from Him. Abby Johnson’s life was changed when she realized this truth, and God gave her “Grace.”