This is the story of my currently almost eleventh-month-old son and his miraculous birth.
The other day, when I was narrating the story to a close friend, he said, “But aren’t all births miraculous?” So true. What starts out as just a single cell develops over a period of nine months to emerge as a beautiful baby. It is one of the most beautiful things in the world. All of us went through this process – we are all fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14, the Bible). As one author says: “Every 55 minutes, 10,000 babies are born all over the world…. What is even more amazing is that every one of those babies is different…. But no matter how and where each child is born, to the parents, each one is a miracle.”
Each one of my three children was born in challenging circumstances. Each one is a story by itself. We lost our second son at five months of pregnancy. We named him as well, before burying him.
This story, however, is about the third. My wife and I knew we wanted another child. We had waited several years owing to the challenges of the previous two and the need to look after the health of our eldest. We met several doctors… we did our research. We prayed. And then, we were soon blessed with the news that my wife was pregnant.
The first trimester passed without much difficulty. These were COVID times and hence we were mostly restricted indoors. I was working from home and hence able to attend to her closely.
In the fifth month, around the same time we had lost the second child, we visited the doctor for a scan. A thought in my wife’s mind prompted her to ask the doctor a crucial question, leading to the doctor investigating this aspect through the scan. It revealed that the pregnancy was indeed at a critical stage. The doctor, a wise and cautious practitioner, decided to wait a bit before advising any precautionary safety procedures apart from bed rest. She asked us to return for a scan after two weeks. However, we were tense – my wife requested extended leave from her office, which was graciously granted. Her parents who were living nearby moved in with us to extend all support, as my wife took to complete bedrest.
A week later, we received a sudden message from the hospital that the scan was advanced by a week. No reason why – probably an earlier slot had opened up. However, we believe God was at work. The scan revealed how critical the situation was. A procedure had to be conducted immediately without waiting another day. We immediately checked into the hospital and the doctor conducted the procedure. Had we waited another week, as originally scheduled, we would have probably lost the child.
Thereafter, a tense several weeks followed. We would count the days that went by… and individual weeks, each of which was crucial considering our extremely high-risk situation. The earliest, we were told, for a foetus to be viable was 24 weeks. We crossed that mark. Then 30. 31. 32. 35. 36. The day of the 36th, my son was born, a healthy lad at 2.4 kg.
Each day that we look at our son, we marvel at the miracle that he is. A pregnancy reveals the wonder of creation… the masterpiece that each one of us is… and the Supreme Creator behind it all. Our Grand Designer.
Above all, we are reminded that God is sovereign. He is all good, all powerful, all knowing. He has a plan for each one of us. A blessed future, if only we surrender our will to His. God’s plan for us is the best. We don’t know why He allows certain challenges or miracles in our lives, but we trust Him all the same.
The miracles that each one of us experiences in different ways are signs of God’s active working in our world and lives. He is constantly working. Nor do His miracles depend on any of our goodness. As the Bible says in Matthew 5:45, God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. I have experienced miracles even as a wayward sinner on the road to destruction and Hell before God in His mercy brought me onto the road to salvation. I have also experienced serious challenges, trials and tribulations then and now… and the troubles only increase as a child of God. However, as Jesus said in John 16:33, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
The most blessed thing, however, we all can look forward to is Jesus Christ’s return. He is the Son of God who was born into the world to offer us a way of salvation. As sinners, our wages were death (Romans 6:23), but now, through His death and resurrection, we have the gift of eternal life. If we only believe in Him, repent of our sins, and receive this free gift, He will clothe us with His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:21), enabling us to enter into God’s presence and receive eternal life.
Our ultimate salvation will be when Jesus returns to this world. We who are currently being saved and transformed into His likeness through faith in Him will be with Him, for eternity. All tears will be wiped away. The Bible says that creation even now is awaiting His return, groaning as in the pains of childbirth (Romans 8:22). All of the evil that we see in the world around us is the cause of this groaning of creation, even as we look forward to the happiness of Christ’s return. This is our blessed hope that is an anchor to our souls. However, many of us don’t live in the light of this hope. As my favorite preacher says, in an adaptation of the passage from 1 Corinthians 13, “Now abideth faith, hope, and love, but the weakest of these is hope.” Why should it be so? We have a blessed hope before us. Let us look forward to it. Even so, come Lord Jesus!