In
the 1980s, Bob and Pam Tebow had moved to the Philippines with their young
family. Months later, Pam became infected with a dangerous pathogenic amoeba
and slipped into a coma. Strong medications turned her condition around, but
during that extended treatment, Pam discovered she was pregnant. Her doctors,
knowing the potent drugs could have either killed the baby or damaged it
severely, recommended an abortion.
Pam
was a strong Christian lady and instead chose to discontinue her treatments in
hope of saving her baby. She and Bob asked God for healing and a healthy
pregnancy. The difficult time ended with Pam basically on bed rest and severely
depleted. Then, on August 14, 1987, a healthy (through somewhat malnourished)
baby boy—Timothy Richard Tebow—was safely delivered.[1]
Tim
grew into a strapping six-foot-three-inch, 235-pound football player. Tim went
on to play college ball at the University of Florida, where he won the Heisman
trophy in 2007 and led the Gators to two national titles. From there, Tim went
on to the NFL where he played with the Denver Broncos. During the 2012 NFL
playoffs, Tebow wrote “John 3:16” on his eye black as a way to be a Christian witness.
As millions of people watched the game between the Broncos and Steelers, 90
million curious viewers logged on to Google to search for “John 3:16.” After
Tebow led the Broncos to a win the sports media reported that Tebow had thrown
for precisely 316 yards, that he averaged 31.6 yards per completion, and the
Broncos time of possession was 31:06.[2]
Tim Tebow with his parents
That’s
not just coincidence, that’s providence. Only God knows how many lives were
impacted for eternity because of Tebow’s witness. But we couldn’t celebrate any
of that if Tim’s mother would have listened to her doctors and went through
with an abortion. When a child’s life is snuffed out in the womb there is so
much lost potential and we are left with the nagging unanswerable question—“What
if?”
In
Psalm 139 we see that even before a child is born, God knows the potential of
that life, “16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were
written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there
was none of them.” The first babies aborted in 1973, when abortion became
legal in the U.S. would have been 47 in 2020—in the prime of their lives.
We
will never know what would have become of the 61 million American babies
aborted since then. Think of all the sports heroes, scientists, doctors,
artists, inventors, leaders, preachers, teachers, mothers and fathers that
could have touched our world. The grand possibilities that God had in store for
them will never be realized in this life, but thankfully in eternity God has a
plan for them. I believe God’s people will get to see an entire generation flourish
in a land where death, sin and evil are done away with.
Hubert
Humphrey, former vice-President of the U.S. challenged us as nation to be
better: “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who
are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life,
the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the
handicapped.” As God’s people let’s give a voice to the voiceless. In the words
of Jesus, let’s fight for “the least of these” to have the right to life (Matt.
25:40). -DM
[1] David Jeremiah, God Loves You (New
York: Faith Words, 2011), 44-45.
[2] Tim Tebow, “The John 3:16 Story,” Lifeway
Voices, 31 January 2019 <https://lifewayvoices.com/culture-current-events/the-john-316-story/>
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