For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:13-14

You probably don't know Feng Jianmei.

Even so, the Lord has used her, along with the prayers of Christians, to change public policy in the great country of China.

For years China's Population and Family Planning Commission has enforced its one-child policy through the use of enforced abortions. That means, whether parents wanted it or not, a mother could be forcibly taken to a hospital and have her child aborted. Sometimes, the mother was beaten to make her sign the "consent" form.

That was what happened to seven-month pregnant Feng Jianmei. She was beaten and her child was aborted by injection. Afterward a picture was taken with the mother on a hospital bed lying next to her deceased child.

A tragedy? Absolutely -- but it's a tragedy the Lord has used to accomplish His purposes.

Although such abortions have gone on for decades and other pictures have been available, for some reason -- the Lord's reason -- this one touched hearts and provoked a public outcry and considerable prayer on the part of Christians. The result has been China's Population and Family Planning Commission has banned the use of forced abortions.

That doesn't mean that China is throwing the entire policy out the window. They're not. The government still can levy crippling fines for having a second child -- fines which sometimes exceed the family's yearly income.

Still, no longer will mother's be beaten and forced to end the life of a child.

Heaven must be rejoicing at the news. After all, the Lord is the One who has formed us before we were born and has given us the gift of physical life. But that is just the beginning of His involvement.

So that every life might be blessed in this world and the next, the Father sent His Son into this world to offer Himself as the sacrifice necessary for our redemption. It was a sacrifice we didn't want and we hadn't earned. But it was made and, because it was, you and I and all who believe are saved, and so will be some babies in China. By God's grace may hearts around the world learn to love the unborn as much as does the Lord. To that end we pray.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, today we pray Your will might be done on earth as it is in heaven. So many times we demand our way over Your will. Forgive us. Bring countries and individual consciences into harmony with Your love and grace, as it has been shown to us in the crucified and risen Savior. In His Name we give thanks. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 41-42    Romans 7

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"