| Dear Friend,
It took awhile to find the book and get it and then peruse it. All of us who answer these questions are volunteers with busy schedules. Thank you for your patience.
My comments:
The book is a testimonial about how God can overcome all impact of sin in connection with childbirth -- physical imperfections in the area of reproduction, all infertility, all pain, all morning sickness, all discomfort, almost all need for medical help, such as anesthetic and stitches, etc.
As a punishment upon sin, God said to the woman in Genesis 3:16, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children." The subtitle of the book is, "Experiencing the promises of God concerning conception and delivery." God does promise to protect us and to give us all that is good for us -- even the pain and danger of childbirth is something that we can trust in God's promises to turn into good for us: Romans 8:28 "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him."
How do we wrestle with those two items -- both from God?
- His punishment upon sin. - Law
- His promise of protection and love. - Gospel
I would trust in God's Gospel. I would go to the Scripture and read and reread Psalm 23. There is a "valley of the shadow of death." There are enemies that threaten us. There is sickness and pain in childbirth. There are complications for mother and child. There is infertility. I would trust in God, my good shepherd, to help and protect us. But I would encourage all to be aware of Satan's power. Pain hurts. Childbirth hurts. God gave us doctors and nurses and hospitals and modern medicine. We don't put our trust in them. We put our trust in God. But as a part of our trust in God, we use his gifts to us in modern medicine to protect us and our children.
I have three major concerns with the book:
- God answers our prayers the way he wants to. The strength of our faith does not guarantee that God will answer our prayers the way we want him to. But he will answer them for our good. My wife and I prayed for years for a child. God chose not to answer our prayers that we could produce a child of our marital union. God chose to answer our prayers by allowing us to adopt two children. God blessed us his way and in his time. He did not give us what we wanted. He gave us what was best for us.
- When we don't get exactly what we want, it does not mean that
- our faith is weak
- or that God is mean and unloving.
One of the dangers of this book is that when the people who pray so hard to God still feel heartache or pain in connection with reproduction, they might feel that their faith or their prayers were inadequate or that God is not being loving to them. Neither would be the case.
- One cannot bribe God with prayer or with a strong faith. We need to be careful that we do not give the impression that we can -- as this book sometimes seems to do.
- God gave us modern medicine to use it. Doctors and nurses and medicine are not perfect. But we should not neglect the wonderful advances of medicine because we feel that God can do it all. He can do it all. But he also blessed us with modern medicine. It is not idolatry to listen to a doctor or to use anesthetic or sutures or other medical care. We also need to be careful that we do not mock God. Remember the temptation of Satan when he said to Jesus to trust in God's promise that God's angels would protect him if Jesus threw himself off the pinnacle of the temple. Matthew 4:6-7: "Jesus answered him, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" That is good, scriptural advice for us also. Are we putting God to the test if we decide not to follow our doctor's advice? We very well might be.
This is not a book that I would recommend to my daughter who is of child-bearing age to read or to heed its advice.
God's blessings!
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