Give Up Your Child to God!

As we saw last week, giving up your child can have very different implications depending on whether you give the child up to an idol or false god or to the one true God. In Scripture we see two examples of these contrasting motives and outcomes.

Pressured by the demands of false religion, mothers sacrificed their infants to Molech, the fire god, in a barbaric ritual begun by neighboring pagan lands but enforced by Ahaz and Manasseh, kings of Israel (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6). As children were burned at the altar, drums beat incessantly to drown out the wailing of the infants and their mothers who may have realized too late the horrors of what they were doing.

Even King Solomon, wisest of all men (1 Kings 4:29-34), built altars to Molech to keep the peace with his pagan wives, and I assume he allowed his own offspring by these women to be tossed into the flames. In addition to this punishment, God’s judgment for this evil was the loss of Solomon’s kingdom (1 Kings 11:4-11). God considered this such an abomination (Jeremiah 32:35) that He demanded stoning for those who sacrificed their infants to Molech (Leviticus 20:2-5).

In contrast, Hannah, wife of Elkinah, “gave up” her son to true Jehovah God and was richly blessed in return. Although Elkinah loved Hannah far more than his other wife Peninnah and treated her far better, this could not assuage Hannah’s grief over being barren. To rub salt in the wound, fertile Peninnah taunted Hannah for bearing no children, and Elkinah meant well but couldn’t understand why his own love for Hannah was not enough (1 Samuel 1:1-8),

The story has many parallels to that of Jacob, who loved his wife Rachel far more than her sister Leah, even though Leah bore him children whereas Rachel was initially childless (Genesis 29:16-35; 30:1-25).

Hannah fasted, prayed fervently and wept, in “bitterness of soul,” that God would give her a son. Her faith was so strong that she promised to return that child to God in His service, by allowing him to assist the priest and train to be one even as a young child (1 Samuel 1:1-10-16).

Some might say that she was striking a bargain with God, which in my opinion would be a sin of pride and of unbelief. Essentially, offering something to God in exchange for a particular outcome implies that we know what we need better than God does, that He does not love us enough to do what is best for us, and that He needs something from us (Matthew 6:8,32; 7:11; Psalm 50:7-14).

Scripture is clear that those who make a vow to God must honor it or face dire consequences (Deuteronomy 23:21,23; Ecclesiastes 5:4), and that we should think carefully before making a foolish promise or one that we cannot or will not honor (Judges 11:30-40)

But rather than bargaining with God. I believe that Hannah had the faith to know God could answer her prayer for a son and that He is the source of all good gifts (James 1:17). She “vowed a vow” to consecrate that child to Him (Psalm 50:14; 66:13), in essence thanking Him in advance for granting her request (Philippians 4:6).

Eli, the priest who at first thought Hannah was drunk, ultimately recognized her profound faith and believed that God would grant her request. Further evidence of Hannah’s faith is that she came to the altar in utmost distress, yet after she poured out her soul, she left in peace, trusting God for the outcome (1 Samuel 1: 17-18). She conceived shortly after they returned home from the yearly pilgrimage to the Lord’s house, and appropriately named her son Samuel, meaning “God has heard.”

True to her promise, Hannah raised Samuel until he was weaned, then returned to the Lord’s house where she offered him to assist Eli and to be trained by him as a priest. She and Elkinah also gave a generous offering and worshipped the Lord for answering her prayer. How heart-wrenching it must have been for Hannah to “lend her son to the Lord” for as long as he would live, and to return to her strangely quiet home that was once filled with her toddler’s cries (v. 22-28).

But Hannah continued in prayer and in praise, singing a song of worship (1 Samuel 2:1-10) that many centuries later would inspire Mary to sing the Magnificat when she learned God had chosen her to be the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:46-55). Samuel served God under Eli’s supervision, and was a shining light in a priest’s house darkened by the evil deeds of his sons and by the spiritual weakness of the priest himself (1 Samuel 2:12-18; 22-25).

Each year Hannah and Elkinah faithfully returned to the Lord’s house for offering and worship, and each year she brought Samuel a new coat she had made to accommodate the growing lad (v. 19). I wonder if she kept a special chest filled with his outgrown garments as a memory of the son whose company she could not enjoy? But thankfully, she would soon need them, as Eli prayed that God would give her a child to make up for the one she had lent to Him (v. 20).

You can’t outgive God (Luke 6:38), so it doesn’t surprise me that God answered that prayer by blessing Hannah with three more sons and two daughters! (1 Samuel 2:21) She was doubly blessed, not only with a large family but with knowing that Samuel was growing in God’s grace and service (v. 26). Ultimately God spoke directly to Samuel warning him of Eli’s destruction to come and making him a great prophet (1 Samuel 3).

Not all of our children are called to be preachers or missionaries, but as parents who believe in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection as the only way to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 14:6), we should lend our children to the Lord for whatever service He has intended for them. Yet we hear of children who want to go to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) by going to forsaken parts of the earth to spread the Good News of the Gospel (Acts 1:8), and of parents who discourage them, out of fear or selfish motives of wanting to keep them nearby.

In truth, “our” children are His, not ours, and He has graciously lent them to us. May we encourage them by our example to trust in Christ alone, to pray, to study His Word, and to serve Him! God will reward us many times over!

© 2014 Laurie Collett

 

Would You Give Up Your Child?

It breaks my heart to hear of mothers who love their child so deeply they decide to give up that child to offer them a better life. A mother who lives in poverty or in otherwise dismal circumstances may hand over her baby to be adopted into a privileged and loving home, praying that the child will experience the security, love, and opportunities she never had. Often this is truly a self-sacrificing act of agape love, the mother denying herself the experience of knowing and being loved by her child.

Often the mother’s prayers are answered, and the child does benefit from being loved and raised by the adoptive parents. There may even be a reunion someday of the natural mother and child, if not in this world than in Heaven.

When Moses was three months old, his mother could no longer hide him from the Egyptians ordered to slaughter male Jewish infants. She could have clung to him in fear, but instead she set him afloat in a basket, trusting God for the outcome (Hebrews 11:23). God not only spared Moses’ life but allowed his mother to raise him as a wet nurse for Pharaoh’s daughter, and He placed Moses where he would later be in a position to deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 1:15-22; 2:1-10).

But sadly, a mother may give up her child hoping or praying for the best but resulting in the worst. In impoverished countries, families with many mouths to feed may give up an oldest daughter for a few dollars to spend on the other children, and for empty promises to that daughter of education, employment, or even marriage. Yet it turns out to be human trafficking, and realization of this unspoken truth may plague the parents with guilt and drive a wedge between them. In this circumstance, desperation fosters denial, and the parents are victims too, yet not to the extent that is the girl who is sold into slavery.

Scripture speaks of an even more extreme situation, a terrible form of God’s judgment in which parents can survive in captivity and famine only by eating the flesh of their own offspring. Even considering such an awful act is not possible unless the parents have been totally corrupted by depraved evil and wickedness, which starts with disregard for God’s commandments (Deuteronomy 28:53-58).

But what of situations in which a mother gives up her child for her own convenience? In its most socially acceptable form, a wealthy mother may send her child away to boarding school for long periods of time, seeing him only on special holidays, leaving her free to pursue world travel or a glamorous social life. Or, a career mom may relegate child-rearing responsibilities to a full-time nanny so that she can attain fame, prestige and fortune.

This is not meant to question the advantages of boarding school in certain circumstances or to say that mothers should not work, as children can benefit from both of these situations as long as they are balanced with the love and nurture that only parents can provide (Ephesians 6:1-4; Titus 2:4). The Proverbs 31 woman is industrious and entrepreneurial, making and selling garments and cultivating fields, yet she blesses her family and household with loving care and her own Godly example.

The world tends not only to accept extreme forms of a mother giving up her child for the sake of lifestyle or career, but to celebrate and applaud them. However, if the child is deprived of the mother’s love and feels abandoned, he may develop psychological problems and act out with promiscuity, alcohol or drug abuse, or breaking the law.

An even worse situation would be one in which a mother wants to please a new boyfriend by throwing her teen out on the street or abandoning her children, favoring her new (and often temporary) relationship over the flesh-and-blood bond between mother and child (Hosea 2:4-5). Or, caught in the grip of addiction, the mother herself is enslaved and abandons her child, driven only by the need to feed her habit (Proverbs 20:1).

Jesus said that in the end times, evil will prevail to the extent that “the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). The most universally experienced and deepest form of human love is that of a mother for her child, yet even that natural affection disappears when people deny the existence of God and turn their minds and hearts over to evil (Romans 1:31; 2 Timothy 3:3).

If it has taken you 2 minutes to read this far, during that time about 4 to 6 women in the United States alone have given up their unborn babies to abortion, cutting off the life of that child before they even make their earthly entrance. A survey showed that about 86% of abortions are done for the mother’s convenience.  But the mother’s choice leaves no choice at all for the child.

These unborn babies are safely in the arms of Jesus (Matthew 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16), but they will never have the opportunity to experience life on this earth or to touch the lives of others. Their mothers may suffer short-term side effects, infertility, long-term medical or psychological complications, or even death. Many Christians cry out and wonder why God is not judging America for sacrificing unborn children, and yet the loss of these innocent lives and consequences for the mothers is in itself a form of judgment (Romans 6:23).

Organizations such as Planned Parenthood may tend to minimize the risks of abortion and deny the personhood of the unborn child, referring to them as a lump of tissue. If current rates continue, 35% of all women of reproductive age in the United States today will have had an abortion by age 45, according to estimates of the National Abortion Federation.

God knows and loves every child from the moment they are conceived (Psalm 139:13-16), giving each of them unique characteristics, talents, and purpose. Children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3-5), designed to bless our lives and to fulfill His perfect will, and entrusted to our care (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13). But if our child takes the wrong path, may we have the faith to “give up” our child to God, so that His perfect will be done in their lives, however He may choose to accomplish that in His perfect timing and ways (Romans 8:28; Hebrews 12:5-11). Prayer can accomplish what worrying, nagging, and manipulation cannot (James 5:16).

And if children choose to leave us to serve God in distant locales, may we gladly “give up” that child to His service! Life is short (James 4:14; Job 14:1) and laborers for God are few (Matthew 9:37). What we lack in terms of their earthly companionship will be restored in far greater measure when we spend eternity not only with Christ, but with our saved children and loved ones!

God the Father Himself “gave up” His only begotten Son, offering Him as the perfect sacrifice to suffer and die for all our sins, so that by trusting Him we might be washed clean in His shed blood and have eternal life! (Matthew 26:28; Luke 22:20; John 3:16; Hebrews 9:22) May you have a blessed Mother’s Day and rejoice in His ultimate gift!

© 2014 Laurie Collett