The Lord has chosen Cyrus to be king. He has appointed him to conquer nations; he sends him to strip kings of their power; the Lord will open the gates of cities for him. To Cyrus the Lord says, “I myself will prepare your way, leveling mountains and hills. I will break down bronze gates and smash their iron bars. – Isaiah 45:1-2
The prophecy about Cyrus was written by Isaiah approximately 150 years before Cyrus was born.1 It is incredible to think that God had planned for Cyrus, knew Cyrus’ destiny in life, and declared how He Himself was going to help Cyrus do his tasks.
There are millions of people in the planet, yet God knows each one by name. He knows each person’s purpose and knows every need we have to fulfill this purpose in life. God can see through time. He is unbound by time. God carries a person in His heart for millennia, knowing that person’s full story and tendencies, successes, and weaknesses. When it is time to release that person into the world, God does so with the delight of one who has planned everyday of that precious life into a book.
Consider:
“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” Psalm 139:16.
God planned for Cyrus, just as He has planned for every baby in his or her mother’s womb. Currently, as people debate if abortion is a human right, we must remember how God weaves eternal destiny into the life of each child—even the unborn.
As he says to the prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Have we considered how God sets people apart? How He plans our genetics, our families, the nation we are born in? Have we wondered at how God has a special call for those whom He forms—even if the baby’s biological father or mother does not want the baby? How many Jeremiahs and Cyruses is God wanting to release into the world in these difficult times?
In the past, when God sent deliverers to Israel, Satan moved to destroy babies massively. When Moses was born, for example, Pharaoh had ordered baby boys killed. When Jesus was born, Herod also moved to destroy male babies that were two years old and below. With abortions being rampant around the world, especially in the West, shouldn’t we wonder if this massive killing is a plot by the Enemy to rid the world of deliverers whom God wants to release into the nations?
God delights in life. One of Jesus’ names is Life. We should champion His name and desire for life— even for the unborn!
Janina Marie Rivera is the Editor-in-Chief of One Voice Magazine, a teacher of world literature, and a student of the Bible. She enjoys reflecting on life’s curve balls and plateaus. She resides in the Philippines, the country known for people who smile a lot.
