The Stigma

  Scripture For The Day 

May 1, 2023

The Stigma

Surrogacy has been around since the OT. Back then the value of a woman rested on her ability to have children or not. So, when a wife wasn’t able to bear children, she had every legal right to find a substitute, a surrogate, to fulfill that need. It usually ended up being a servant that the wife would hand over to her husband. That servant was just an object and she better remember that and the husband better not enjoy it too much. It was the ends to the means. It’s no wonder that the OT is filled with an abundance of family dysfunction.  Not saying anything is wrong with surrogacy. But how they went about it is what caused the problem. The reasoning behind going about it is the problem. 

A woman’s worth is so much more than her ability to bear children.  She means just as much to God as her husband does.  Yet, today we still have this stigma. Not quite as obvious but in other ways. I’m going to be honest with you. One of the things I dislike about Mother's Day is the usual handing out of flowers at churches to the ones who have the highest number of children. Nothing wrong with it. I’m not jealous. I am proud for those sweet mommas. it’s just a reminder to me of the hurt. I mean we don’t even do that for the dads.  My desire from an early age was to have lots of children, specifically six children. Understand this, I’m so very thankful for our girl. she is a Blessing through and through.  I know ladies who aren’t able to have any children. So, I feel very blessed.  But because of complications, I wasn’t able to have any more. I literally had dreams for several years of a little boy. I can describe him to a tee for you. Over time the dream finally just stopped coming. And yes, we discussed adoption but both our families were against it.  And still, I continued to hope and pray for years for this little boy. And now I am blessed with two beautiful grandsons. But why does it matter how many children we have? Or don’t have? There are women who have several children and are the worst mothers on earth. And don’t start blaming God. This is a world corrupted by sin and rotting decay. 

But because of this same stigma and feeling unworthy of being a wife, Sarai took her servant Hagar and handed her off to her husband, Abram.  Though God promised to give her a child, Sarai took it into her own hands to handle the problem. Hagar, her servant, became pregnant. Yet, all was not well. Hagar became disrespectful to Sarai.  And after Sarai mishandled the problem yet again, Hagar ran away. She felt alone. But an angel of The Lord found her by a spring of water and said “Hagar, Sarai’s slave (reminding her of her place) where are you going? ““I’m running away from Sarai” The angel told her to go back and place herself under Sarai’s authority and be respectful. The angel tells her that she will give birth to a baby boy that will be the father of many descendants, too many to even count. And because The Lord heard her cry in the desert, her son will be as free and wild as an untamed donkey. No more slavery.” We will study more on Hagar tomorrow. But today I wanted to address the stigma before we went any further. Refer to Genesis 16.