By Ruth
When my mother had a massive stroke and was in a coma, I asked God, “How do we define life? If someone is unconscious or in a semi-vegetative state, can she be considered a person?”
One morning during my devotion, I flipped to Psalm 139. Two familiar verses popped into sight.
If God sees an unformed baby, of course, God knows Mom in her state.
That experience remains vivid in my mind, for God has answered my question.
In my Christian fiction, The Way We Forgive, I described that experience in a more dramatized way. Below is an excerpt from that book.
I typed into the diary on my cell phone. “How do we define life? Can someone unconscious or in a semi-vegetative state be considered a person?”
Not finding any immediate answer, I threw the phone into my purse. Ken’s Bible on the coffee table caught my attention. During the past years, I’d switched to an electronic Bible on my phone. I’d even told Ken with pride, “This way, I can read different versions easily.”
Yet now, holding a physical book in hand brought me solid awareness of God’s presence. I flipped to Psalm 139, pausing at two familiar verses. “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.”
If God saw an unformed baby, of course, God knew Mom in her state. To Him, she remained a complete, valuable person.
Love and peace flowed through me like a gentle stream. Lord, thank You for Your words.
The message from the Bible is unequivocal. In Genesis, before the twins Esau and Jacob were born, God recognized them as two individuals who would eventually become the founding fathers of two nations.
Yes, God saw our unformed bodies before we were born. Every one of us, disabled, deformed, or even unconscious, remains a complete and valuable individual in God’s eyes.
