by Dr. Pat Castle
(NOTE: This devotional originally appeared at liferunners.org.)
Verse(s): “But I said, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.'” — Isaiah 49:4-5
Reflection: While praying in front of abortion facilities, we compassionately (“to suffer with”) meet the confusion going in and the hurt coming out. We have not toiled in vain. Let us pause to remember that in 1991 there were over three times more abortion facilities than pregnancy help centers and today, that ratio has flipped — now over three times more pregnancy help centers than abortion facilities — thanks to organizations like the Vitae Foundation, Sidewalk Advocates and 40 Days for Life (and others) who help abortion-vulnerable women discover pregnancy help centers.
82% of post-abortion women said that if just one person had encouraged them to choose life then they would not have aborted their child.
“One day an old man was walking down the beach just before dawn. In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back in the sea. As the old man approached the young man, he asked, ‘Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?’ The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. The old man exclaimed, ‘But there must be thousands of starfish. How can your efforts make any difference?’ The young man looked down at the starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in the sea, he said, ‘It makes a difference to this one!’”
Faith Challenge: Let’s remember the story of the Starfish and be the one to reach out to an abortion-vulnerable woman with options that everyone can live with.