Q:
Our doctor just told us we'll never have any children, and it's about to break our hearts. Why would God do this to us? It seems so unfair, since we've always looked forward to being the kind of loving family that children need today.
A:
I’m sure many readers have had a similar experience, and they understand your heartache. I often think of Hannah in the Old Testament, who grieved for years because she was childless (until God answered her prayers and gave her Samuel—1 Samuel 1:10).
But God understands your disappointment also—and that’s why you can turn in faith to Him for comfort, even if you can’t understand. God’s love for you has not changed, and even when circumstances turn against us we can experience His peace if we know Christ. Never forget: He is “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
No, I don’t know why God has not allowed you to have children. But I do know this: When God closes one door, He often opens another—and my prayer is that you will seek that door and in faith embrace it. For example, God may want you to explore the possibility of adoption. Every year countless children are put up for adoption who need exactly the kind of loving home you could provide. Esther, who courageously intervened to save the Jewish people from destruction, was adopted (see Esther 2:15).
Above all, don’t let your disappointment grow into doubt or even anger toward God. Instead, turn to Christ and by faith commit your lives and your future into His hands. Then you’ll discover the greatest joy of all—the joy of knowing you’re part of God’s family forever.