I am getting ready to go out on a limb, which is not my nature.  What makes this a risk is that I am going to share a hypothesis that I have held for years that won’t have a Scripture passage to support it (that I’m aware of).  So why would I even risk articulating my hypothesis now?  First, I have discovered support from an eyewitness account.  His name is Colton Burpo.  Second, I believe there are many women and men who have grieved openly and some very silently and/or secretly over the loss of an infant via a miscarriage, a stillbirth, and even abortion.  I believe you need hope and encouragement. 

I have always wondered “What happens to an infant who dies before they have the cognitive ability to say “yes” to Jesus?  Or “What happens to infants who don’t make it out of the womb successfully? “  In case you are not aware of what the Bible teaches, in order to enjoy eternal life with God the Father, we have to accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as our personal Lord and Savior.  Jesus took our place on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins.  Accordingly, we have to seek His forgiveness and invite Jesus to be our Savior and Lord of our life.  In addition, we also embrace the reality of Jesus conquering death by his resurrection.  This is an integral part of the Christian doctrine.  How can we have hope of eternal life if Jesus couldn’t conquer death Himself?!  Given these underpinnings, how can an infant who dies in the womb make a decision for Jesus?  What happens to them? 

These questions became front and center in my thinking over the last month after reading a new book entitled “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo.  Todd’s son, Colton, got to experience heaven while a surgeon was operating on him for a ruptured appendix when he was almost four years old.  This book will grip your heart for many reasons which I want you to discover for yourself, but plan on needing  Kleenex from time to time for the sweet tears you will experience.  I believe God in His sovereignty wants us to see heaven through the lens of a child, and Colton’s account of heaven is simple, yet profound. 

If you choose to read this book, you will discover that Colton covers significant theological terrain: the reality of God,  Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (Triune God),  spiritual warfare, the reality of Satan, adoption, resurrection, the gospel, prayer, and angels.  In addition, it answers questions like “When we get our glorified bodies in heaven, will we be young or old?”  “Will there be animals in heaven?”  “Is the description of heaven that we read in the book of Revelation figurative or literal?”  “Where is God when we are experiencing intense pain in our life?” “What happens to the stillborn child or a baby who is miscarried?” “Will we see our family members-even those we’ve never met?”   Today, I am blogging on just one of these questions, i.e. “What happens to the infant who is miscarried or aborted or stillborn?” 

Here it goes.  I will re-emphasize that this is not a scriptural truth, but a hypothesis of hope that children matter to God who created them, and He takes care of those children who can’t care for themselves.  For years I have held to a hypothesis that every infant that was either miscarried or intentionally aborted or stillborn will be given a resurrected body in heaven, and we will get to meet them.  I have met many folk along the way who just see an embryo as sort of a non-entity, i.e. not a person with a personality, a set of gift, talents and abilities already predetermined by our Creator.  In other words, it has never occurred to some that there appears to be a strong chance that they will meet face to face the child that was miscarried in their first trimester, or the child that was aborted in the last trimester.  How can this possibly be?  We have a God who has power over death and can resurrect the dead!  Jesus was a primary example, not to mention other accounts in Scripture in which Jesus healed those who had died and then by His grace restored their life.  There are other key Scriptural truths I have leaned on to arrive at this hypothesis: 

First, we know that God is the creator of all life.  Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”    Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created…all things were created by Him and for Him.”  No life is created by accident.  We are not just strands of DNA that randomly came together in our Mothers’ wombs.  In fact, God took special care in creating us.  He tells us in Psalms 139:13-16 that “He created my inmost being; you knit me together in my Mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.”  God created the blueprint for each of us before a sperm and egg ever came together in our Mother’s womb.  No life formed by God is illegitimate, and He deeply cares for and loves every life He has created, whether His creation made it out of the womb successfully or not.  

Second, God knows our whereabouts at any given moment or time.  Excerpts from Psalm 139:1-10 state “You know when I sit and when I rise…you discern my going out and my lying down…you hem me in behind and before…Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”  I believe a tiny embryo the size of a peanut is not lost on God.  I believe He sees an embryo that may have been flushed down the toilet in the midst of a miscarriage or thrown away in a hazardous waste can.  He knows where to find each precious life He created because we are never out of His sight.  He is able to raise them up and take them to heaven and give them their glorified bodies.  

Third, there are passages throughout the Scriptures that God defends the defenseless, the fatherless, the widows, the orphans, the weak, the needy, the poor, and the oppressed.  A little infant can’t defend against abortion.  God loves that child just as much as He loves you and me.  I believe by faith that He restores these lives and takes them to be with Him. 

I just felt a need to share this as a word of encouragment for those who are still grieving the loss of a child through miscarriage or abortion.  God treasures every life He created, and He knows the sadness  and/or guilt you’ve experienced in the loss of your child.  I wish there was a Scripture I could quote that assures us that those who die in the womb will be in heaven, but I can’t.   But if Colton’s account sheds any light on this subject , then  I feel strengthened  in this hypothesis and choose to believe by faith that parents who have professed their faith in Christ will be reunited with their infants that died by miscarriages, abortions, or other causes when they get to heaven.  Your days of great joy are ahead!  Colton relayed to his parents that they have a daughter who can’t wait for them to get to heaven.  I have a feeling there will be alot of children eagerly waiting to meet their parents and siblings.  

Blessings,

Lee Ann