Depths of God's Love

If we have been born again, we can be convinced of not only the saving power of our Lord Jesus, but the cleansing power that He brings into our lives. 2nd Timothy chapter 2 relates:
19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

From the moment we are saved, we can know that we have the power of the indwelling Christ.  We have a new heart and a new capacity to overcome the power of sin in our lives. We have forgiveness, but we have to take hold of it and walk it out.  We still have to do battle with old desires, past hurts, and the consequences of previous sins. But, we have a new power that can be released in our lives in order that we can experience what God has in store in our new life in Christ.

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God desires for us to experience the unlimited nature of His love, as Paul reminds us in Ephesians chapter 3, where he writes:
(14) ...I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

She seemed to have her whole life in front of her. On the cusp of graduation from nursing school, she was determined not to let a baby stand in her way.  So, she went to a clinic to solve the "problem" of being pregnant.

Or so she thought.

Years later, she related through The Christian Heart website:

I left the clinic feeling relief. Now I could get on with my life. But that abortion wrecked me. Scarred emotionally and spiritually, I was wounded internally by a sin that changed my whole identity.

Efforts to continue suppressing my shame and guilt failed when my husband and I welcomed our first child five years later. I hit rock bottom with post-partum depression that I perceived to be God’s punishment.

Another woman, her sister, shared the gospel with her. Her sister, she says, "shared the gospel, including Psalm 103 that declares God removes our sin and remembers it no more. I accepted Christ as my savior and was once again changed, this time enjoying the peace and freedom that comes from living in redemption."

She has now shared her story multiple times in order to "confront the lies surrounding abortion."  As she relates, she has even been featured on Focus on the Family.

Her name is Laurie Haynes. She was one of the guests on the Focus radio program in 2020, entitled, "
Forgiveness and Healing for Post-Abortive Women."  The website says that:

Laurie Haynes is passionate about coming alongside women and men who have experienced a past abortion and helping them in their journey to find healing and hope. Since 2016, she has been serving as Director of Post Abortion Support at Living Alternatives, a pregnancy resource center in central Illinois. She is also a director and facilitator at Deeper Still, a post-abortion retreat center. Laurie’s work with pregnancy resource centers began in 2002 when she volunteered as a client advocate, and in 2008, she was able to begin using her nursing license to offer limited obstetrical ultrasounds. She and her husband, Todd, have two grown children and one grandchild.

A story at the Pregnancy Help News website provides a more expansive look at her story, and that of her husband, who had abortion in his past, as well - he had fathered a child and he and the mother chose to abort the child.  Laurie said, “Here we were ‘equally yoked’ with a common sin,” adding, “What is interesting, I would say, looking back now is we really would not talk about it. We confessed that to each other and we both felt—we both knew—it was sinful, but we never really discussed it that I remember from that point forward.”

They married, and a few years later, Laurie, through her sister's sharing of Christ's love for her, accepted Jesus as her Savior. Laurie relates: "The depression didn’t suddenly go away, but I knew in my heart and in my soul and in my spirit that I was born again,” adding, “There was no more guilt and condemnation from what I had done in 1983—allowing my baby’s life to be taken—and in place of it was peace and joy.”

Several years after that, Todd accepted the Lord, as well.

But, God was not finished doing his healing work in her heart. After becoming involved in a Living Alternatives pregnancy resource center, she was invited to attend a retreat called, Deeper Still. The article reports that Haynes said, “At the time I was thinking, ‘I don’t need to go, I’m totally healed, but I guess it would be a good idea for me to attend as a participant, especially if we’re going to start a chapter in Illinois..."  The story continues:

Haynes registered to go to a Deeper Still retreat in Knoxville that October. Then, ten days before she left, her oldest brother took his life. Haynes felt emotionally drained in her grief when she arrived at the retreat, but she felt a supernatural peace from God as the leaders encouraged everyone on the retreat to rest and focus on their own healing.

“I had no idea what God had in store for me at my retreat,” Haynes said. “When I went, I did not just want to go as an observer. I thought ‘God, if you have something more for me as far as my healing, Lord, show me what it is,’ and He did. For the first time ever, I was able to grieve and reconcile emotionally and spiritually with my baby. Before, I had never thought about my baby—it was always the procedure and how traumatic it was. God let me understand that I had lost a baby.”

She says, "I thought I was completely healed but God always wants to take us deeper—deeper into intimacy with Him, deeper in our healing, deeper in our knowledge of how much He loves us.”

We can recognize that the work of redemption was completed through Christ's death and resurrection.  And, we are totally redeemed when we accept Jesus into our hearts.  But, there is so much work to do.  There is what is termed the "sanctification" process, through which we allow the Holy Spirit to perform a deep work in our hearts, in accordance with the power of God's Word, so that we might grow; that we would truly change inwardly and outwardly.  We can acknowledge that God wants us to go deeper in Him.

Laurie Haynes discovered the power of God a number of years ago, after the setback of going through an abortion.  You know, abortion is more than merely a choice, it is the taking of a life.  But, there is forgiveness and restoration available.  But, there are so many women who have had that experience who can attest to the work of God in their hearts and the freedom and forgiveness that come through knowing Christ and allowing Him to move deeply.