Have any of these thoughts ever crossed your mind? Maybe it won't make a difference. Maybe pro-choice people would just yell at you all morning, anyway. Maybe you'd make it worse--not better--for these women in crisis.
Sometimes it feels like a battle even to get into your car and drive to the clinic of death. Perhaps you feel the emotional strain of knowing a hundred stories of unborn children being unmercifully put to death and have only a few memories of babies actually being saved from abortion. At the clinic I counsel at, we seem to have dark times when there hasn't been a save for months, then other seasons when babies are saved every single week. As you walk through those wilderness seasons--full of antagonistic pro-choice activists, interactions with abusive boyfriends of the abortion-bound women, angry abortion clinic staff, or some of the other difficulties--do not loose heart. In our human nature, we see the trials and challenges, but ultimately we fight--in the name of Jesus--for the unborn!
There was a particular day when I was in training that I awoke to these very thoughts. "The other counselors have this under control; they do not need me. I am going back to sleep." Later I heard that a child was saved from abortion that day. Though it was true that the other counselors were well experienced and able to handle the counseling without me, I was convicted and certain that God was leading me to be there that day. Yet I allowed my objections to take precedence over His leading and call to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
It's sad to reflect on that day and see how quickly I listened to the voice of the enemy. God values life and defends those who are vulnerable: "A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling" (Psalm 68:5). The enemy delights in ruin, murder, death, and indifference. Our call to advocate for women in crisis does not mean we can never have times we refrain from going to the sidewalk to rest and refresh, but if you are not specifically taking a break, what is holding you back? Do you believe the lie that this ministry is unimportant or that going will not change anything? Our God is so much stronger than what we can see; His ability is greater than my sense of optimism or pessimism. When I am tempted to feel small and afraid, by His grace, I will yet speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Ultimately, this ministry is not about me and my own ability. As it has been said, "God does not call the equipped; He equips the called." 2 Peter 1:3 says: "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence." Thus we can stand in assurance that no matter how much we may be lacking, He is enough. God will provide what we need in order to effectively counsel women who pursue abortion.
