What if Abraham Got a Vasectomy?

 

Genesis 15:3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars-if indeed you can count them.”  Then he said to him,  “So shall your offspring be.”  6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.  14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.  15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.   

Picture yourself in Abraham’s shoes.  Would you feel blessed by this?  Would you obey?  Here is what I hear today’s generation Abrahams saying, “Oh, that’s not for me.  I only wanted 1 to pass on my name.  After that, I’m taking precautions.”

Then God tells him how rough his descendants are going to have it for 4 HUNDRED YEARS!  Today’s generation would be calling Abraham irresponsible for knowingly bringing life into the world that would suffer such hardships especially when there are so many preventative options out there today.

The world is full of hardships and indecision.  My children will have plenty of tough times as have I.  But I know God has a plan for each of them and His plan for them is bigger than mine and not to mention ETERNAL.  By taking birth control or getting a surgery that prevents pregnancy, you are putting your own will above God’s.

I use to dance around this subject trying to be careful not to offend others who disagree or who maybe have gotten a surgery.  I just said it is more honorable and glorifying to God if we surrender this part of our lives to Him.  The more time passes, the more I feel certain that this way of “family planning” is not of God.  It is us trying to have control in our lives over something that ultimately should be left in the hands of God.  How can we say, “I surrender all” and then get our tubes tied.  If we would have surrendered all, maybe we would have had 3 more children that God had plans for in our family.  Maybe that sounds inconvenient but maybe God’s will is more important than our own.

I believe this new way of thinking is wrong and my belief is very unpopular.  Ever been in church on a mother’s day and heard the pastor ask a grandmother how many children she has.  She just beams as she says I have 10 children and 30 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren and 2 on the way!  Everyone applauds her.  How beautiful that she was the beginning of so many lives.  We are headed to a statement more like I have 2 children and 2 grandchildren and that’s it, they are all fixed.  Will she be applauded for being so responsible?  Unfortunately, she may be.

I believe God is the author and creator of life.  I believe we are here on earth to serve Him, not ourselves.  I believe that by limiting our reproduction, we are limiting how God may use us.  If you don’t agree with me, maybe you will at least be less outspoken against somebody else who shares my belief.  If you are wrong and I am right, than you may be a stumbling block to your neighbor.