1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Genesis 16:1-2 (ESV)

Wedded to the “Technological Revolution,” the “Rights Revolution” has led many couples, including Christians, to forget that children are a gift from the Lord, a blessing which He alone is free to bestow or not bestow according to His gracious purposes. Infertility is viewed as a personal violation of one’s “reproductive rights,” and medical science is harnessed to the task of rectifying it. Assisted reproductive technologies and novel reproductive arrangements are frequently employed to “make babies.”

The Lord promised Abram his very own son as his heir (Gen. 15:1-6), and the patriarch knew that the son would come through Sarai, his wife (Gen. 16:1). Yet as time passed (v. 3), Sarai concluded that God’s word could not be trusted and that God would not reverse her affliction of barrenness (v. 2). So she proposed a form of surrogate motherhood, whereby Abram would impregnate her servant girl, Hagar, but the resulting offspring would come under her own control and become the family heir. In her unbelief, Sarai followed her own devices instead of God’s ordained plan and, in running ahead of God, betrayed the way of faith.

Sarai “took Hagar . . . and gave her to Abram . . .” (v. 3). The resulting pregnancy brought domestic disharmony, as first Sarai and Hagar clashed (v. 4), and then Abram and Sarai fought (vv. 5-6). The pattern had been set for future generations as Ishmael, the son of Hagar and forefather of the Arabs, fought with the descendents of Isaac, not just physically, but also spiritually (Gal. 4:21-31).

Today, surrogacy arrangements are somewhat common. In gestational surrogacy a third party is brought into the reproductive relationship through in vitro fertilization1 to carry a baby from implantation to birth. These arrangements may be either altruistic—in which no money is involved—or commercial. Surrogacy should be avoided by faithful Christians. In surrogacy the exclusivity of the marriage covenant between one man and one woman is broken. The maternal gestational bond between a child and her mother is broken. The surrogate is reduced to the status of a mere incubator.

Into the current morass, followers of Jesus have a wonderful opportunity to share and demonstrate the liberating message that God is sovereign over the womb and delights to bless his people with the gift of children—and that His ways are not our ways and His timing is not ours. Those whose unbelief leads them to run ahead of God will likely be disappointed. Those who turn to Bible-teaching churches could learn to think biblically about assisted reproductive technologies and novel reproductive relationships. A great deal of heartache can be avoided if couples can learn to trust God through the experience of infertility. Turning to their own devices will only make their lives and those around them miserable.

article adopted from Karios  Journal

First Baptist Church of Perryville is located at 4800 W. Pulaski Hwy., Perryville, MD across from the Principio Health Center.