An Eternal Purpose

Recently, someone shared an article with me entitled “Two Minutes To Eternity.” It is the story of a man whose son was born with a genetic defect, lived for two minutes, and then passed into eternity. The man struggles with understanding why God would create this precious child only to allow him to live for two short minutes. But in time the man realizes that his son was not created for an earthly purpose, but for an eternal one.

I have often searched for the purpose in the short lives of my unborn children. I carried four babies, each for less than two months, only to have them ushered straight from my womb (or tube) into the loving arms of my Savior. It is so easy to wrestle with the obvious question - Why? Why would God even allow me to carry a child I would never meet? What was His reason for that?

I have learned that real personal growth almost never happens when the waters are clear and the sailing is smooth. Real growth happens when I fight through a tremendous storm. It is then that I learn more about my Father and become more like his Son Jesus. The more I practice responding to hardship with trust and faith, the better I become at it.

So for me, during this past year, I have learned that if my four sweet babies have served a purpose, it was to allow me to grow, to teach me to trust, to push me to minister. And I have said before how grateful I am to have endured it all because I have seen God work through each loss to bring glory to Himself and to point others to Him. But now I realize, that is only the smallest bit of their purpose. That was their earthly purpose.

There is so much more than that. My four sweet babies, Ezra, Leilani, Nathaniel, and Jude, were created for something so much greater than that. They were created to fulfill a heavenly purpose - an eternal purpose. They were created for something I can’t even comprehend!

I have no way of knowing the specific things my children were created for. I don’t understand much about heaven. I don’t know if there may be various “jobs” that God might assign to those who have already arrived. Most likely they are simply worshipping Him, bowing in His presence and fully appreciating his glory. But now I do realize that my children were created on purpose, for a heavenly purpose that is much greater than anything we can accomplish here on earth. They are worshipping the Father in a way we cannot do while we are here on earth. And God used me to be a part of their creation. He allowed me to carry them - just for a short time.

All this time I have been searching for meaning in the wrong place. I assumed that the purpose God had for creating my babies and then taking them away so suddenly had something to do with me. How easily I forget that my life is not about me, but about Him.

I am so thankful for the reminder, and the realization, that God has given my children real purpose. I can’t wait to get to heaven to hold and kiss them and find out what they have been doing since their arrival!