It is almost midnight and I can't seem to keep my mind quiet. There are a lot of things my mind wants to think about, with the Holidays coming up and everything. Also I have a baby that always decides to move when I'm trying to sleep. Most of the time I don't get exasperated though, it gives me a wonderful opportunity to thank God for how healthy my baby seems to be and think about wonderful baby things.
Anyway, as I lay there with my mind going this way and that, and my belly going this way and that I got to thinking about an article I read recently. I get emails about my pregnancy; telling me about the growth of the baby and various topics that might be relevant. The topic I am referring to is about drinking alcohol while being pregnant. They, of course, recommend that you steer clear of it entirely; farther down in the article it says that even a woman who only has one drink a week is more likely to have a child that shows aggressive and delinquent behavior later in life. It said that drinking alcohol can cause low birth weight and/or learning disabilities.
Now as I hope most of you know, I am not an alcohol drinker; however since I've been pregnant I've had an ongoing internal problem that I have drank wine for. As I'm sure all who will read this know, but for any who may not, the Bible says to "Drink a little wine for your stomach's sake, and your oft infirmities." I think I quoted that correctly. (I'm too lazy to go look it up right now though, sorry) Anyway, from time to time since I've been pregnant Matt and/or I have blessed a drink of wine that I have consumed in hopes that God would have mercy and relieve my problem.
As I was laying there in bed feeling my baby move inside me I was thinking about how I wouldn't want to hurt my baby in any way. I was thinking about that article and hoping that the drinks of wine I have taken haven't affected my baby in a bad way.
Here was my question for myself. Is it a lack of faith to worry about the wine I have taken for a spiritual reason? Wouldn't God allow that it wouldn't have an ill affect on my baby since I wasn't taking it to enjoy the alcohol, but because I was trying to do all I could do to have faith in God to take care of my problem? On the other hand, is it selfish of me to take wine for my problem if there's a possibility that it could harm my baby? Now when I was taking the wine it didn't even dawn on me that it was alcohol and I was pregnant. I don't even think of it hardly as an alcoholic beverage, but something we only use when we are sick. Now that the topic has been brought to my attention I'm really questioning what to do. Would it be lack of faith to not take the wine when I feel the need, or would it be selfish to continue to take it?
I have anointed myself, and of course prayed a lot about this problem; so there are other ways to seek God's mercy. I took the wine because I was doing everything I could think of to seek deliverance from this problem. Would it be bad to stop doing this one thing for the sake of my baby, would it reflect a lack of faith on my part that God wouldn't take care of my baby when I take the wine? Or would it be better to just hold off on the wine for now because of the possibility that it might have a bad effect on my baby?
I know this is kind of a deep subject; maybe even a little controversial (I hope not too much though), but I really would like some opinions on the matter; because I really want to do the right thing.
Thanks
Sigh*** I decided I better look that verse up; so here it is:
"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
I Timothy 5:23
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5 comments:
I wish I could give you a deffinite answer,but I can't.The verse you spoke of was for Timothy and his problem so I don't know if that is your problem or not.
Now if you were to take cough syrup that also as alcohol in it. So I don't think it would hurt you. Plus you are blessing it for your health.But to be able to tell a yes or no I can not do that. So I guess just pray about it and see what God tells you to do.
I must be long winded to day.
I will say a pray for you about this matter.
Usually when I take wine for this purpose it is just a sip or 2. I believe that when the wine is blessed, it is blessed by God, for his purposes. That does not mean that you drink a whole cup of it or anything.
Think about how one of your children would answer this question. We are to be as children and have a childlike faith. I know that in my children's minds there is no doubt that God can do anything.
Sometimes I have wondered about that too. I have occasionally taken a little wine when I was pregnant. I finally decided that I wouldn't worry about it anymore because the amount I take is so small. And like you I don't take it unless it is for some infirmity anyway.I hope your dad is a little better. I hadn't heard in a little while.
I am very confident that no harm will come to your little one for blessing wine and taking it for your stomachs sake. The Lord requires this of us, and He would never instruct us to do something that would cause harm or an ill fate to another one of his own. Although, I have worried about so many things for my children in my lifetime. All you can do is to pray and leave your fears at the Lords feet. He is so merciful, dont worry.
I also think that the wine is okay. And besides, it's not like you are taking it every day. But even if for a while, you were taking it everyday, I think it would be alright, because you are trusting God. And the whole delinquint later in life thing bugs me, because it is more likely that they would be that way because that is how they were raised. Of course somebody who drinks alchohol while pregnant would also drink it when NOT pregnant, and their life is going to be much different than the one you lead. Of course, I've never been in your place, but right now I can tell you that it seems like trusting God with your life and with your childs life is not a selfish thing to do. If God wants to take the child, He will. If He has a need for the child to be fine, that will come to pass. I'm not saying that it is fine for people to do whatever they want, carelessly because "God will take care of it and make it happen how He wants it to happen", because I do believe that God allows things to happen according to the choices we make, even if they weren't what he wanted for us. But I don't think that taking blessed wine once in a while will harm your baby.
That is just my opinion.
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