ATTEMPTING THE IMPOSSIBLE
for
America’s Preborns, the Church, and Our Republic
Mindful of our nation’s confused values and erratic politics, many in Pro-Life today may deem passage of a Constitutional Life Amendment impossible.
Others may choose a stronger term and deem the mere thought of passage absurd. If no state, for example, has been able or willing to close its last abortion center and test Roe v. Wade’s permanence, should Pro-Life expect two-thirds of the U.S. Congress to authorize a Constitutional Life Amendment and 38 states to ratify it?
But there is more to consider. Tozer’s challenging words (above) help to untangle what clouds our minds about the feasibility of a Life Amendment campaign. His words affirm what our spirit knows to be true, that “God is looking for those with whom He can do the impossible.” God has always done so, with notable success. And is it “not a pity that we plan only the things that we can do by ourselves?”
God will partner with the church to end legal abortion when we are willing to trust His sufficiency and partner with Him. Lack of trust is costly. It deprived biblical Israel of their Promised Land for 40 additional years and eventually required them to exchange their beloved homeland for captivity. In our day the church’s lack of trust has rendered us accountable for the lives and progeny of fellow citizens that, if truth be known, far outnumber the 60 million reported abortions; and concern for our nation’s survivability as a superpower deepens year by year. Our spirit tells us that something is gravely wrong.
Colorado and California legalized abortion in 1967, and Roe v. Wade’s deadly rule began in 1973. How could such a violent injustice — the widespread mutilation of Americans’ youngest fellow citizens — prevail in our republic? Could any other evil grieve God more? In due time the church’s toleration of slavery exhausted our Lord’s patience, and He crushed that cruel curse with a devastating war. A century later America institutionalized a more deadly evil, child murder, and if church apathy and passivity continue to accommodate such wickedness, who can doubt God’s preparedness to end the massive killing with the method He prefers?
It is urgent for us, the church, to awaken to our accountability. To assist us, let us ask why the church failed to unite against slavery. The answer is simple: the church did not love the slaves. And why has child murder prevailed for almost 50 years in America? The church has not loved the defenseless victims, whose blood cries out to us by day and by night.
Nor can the church rely on an aggressive amendment campaign, however well financed, to liberate abortion’s future victims. Wrote Mother Teresa: “…When we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, ‘How many good things have you done in your life?’ Rather he will ask, ‘How much love did you put into what you did.'” Human effort and financial largesse cannot pass a Constitutional Life Amendment, but love cultivated and treasured by the church can. God will handle the impossible when His church is willing to handle the doable.
Let us then take stock, each of us. How much do we, pastors and laity, love the unwanted Preborns in our local area? Where do they rank in our priorities? How bold are we in their defense? How sacrificial?
When so questioned, most of us are woefully deficient. Having permitted ourselves to feel dwarfed by the U.S. Supreme Court and abortion’s powerful network, we resemble the dispirited Israelite army that stood paralyzed before boastful Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. That army — the army of God’s Chosen People — stood defeated, to the last man, until God found a lad through whom He “could do the impossible.” Young David loved the sovereign God whom Goliath defiled. He trusted God’s sufficiency, and faith absorbed his fear. Through his witness, God transformed Israel’s pitiful infantry. They routed the Philistines forthrightly, and from their awakening would come King David’s “mighty men of valor,” men who achieved impossible feats that helped lift Israel to dominance among the nations.
At this pivotal hour for America, when our culture is crumbling around our comfortable worship centers, will we the church trust God’s sufficiency and forbid doubt and indifference to steal from us victory over a holocaust? Will we, in each community across America, agree to seek abiding love for our rejected local Preborns? Will we urge God, and diligently so, to help us with that vital endeavor?
Much is said today about the need for national repentance and revival. Rather than lead our culture, we the church have conformed to it to a critical degree, and each remembrance of God’s calls for compassion and justice sifts our spirit. Having failed to hate the shedding of innocent blood (Ezekiel 35:6) and to trust God’s sufficiency, what shall we do today? We know prayer is essential, but prayer operates with God-appointed limits. He commanded us to pray — and, also, to fulfill other essential duties. Thus His commandment: “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4).
Will we alter our ways and obey? If we are honest about repentance and revival, we must. And does a more noble catalyst exist to draw us to our knees and stir us into action than the precious blood of countless Little Ones whom we have neglected (betrayed) for decades?
Let us entreat God to mercifully help us redeem our accountability. Pastors, please lead. Implore your congregations to prepare for crucial service. Laity, please respond with resolve. Support your pastors boldly as loyal armor bearers should. Together, let us commit to love genuinely the throwaway Preborns in our local area. Let us commit to trust genuinely our Lord’s sufficiency and to align our church programs with His priorities. Let us — the church throughout America — partner with God, as sacrificially as is required, and pass a Constitutional Life Amendment that ends the legal killing of our Savior’s future worshippers.
May it so be Father God of heaven and earth. Please convict each of us according to our need, and grace to us a repentant spirit. Purge us of doubt and deliver us from the stronghold imposed by the merciless forces (Ephesians 6) that create and sustain holocausts. Program our hearts for servanthood that befits mighty men and women of valor. Enable us to view Roe v Wade, Planned Parenthood, and their allies as young David viewed pagan Goliath and the Philistine stronghold. Empower us, Father God, with humility that conquers prideful interests and self-serving church priorities. Teach us the worth you place on sacrificial help to those in urgent need. To that end, Father God, enable us to love unwanted Preborns as you love them and to hate child murder as you hate it, that we may see the impossible accomplished for Life, for Your church, and for our nation.
(Prepared by Please Let Me Live – National Life Chain, 2016)
“Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.” —Albert Einstein
“‘It’s impossible,’ said Pride.’ It’s risky,’ said Experience.’ It’s pointless,’ said Reason.’ Give it a try,’ whispered the Heart.'” — anonymous
Read more about some examples of people attempting the impossible…