If you are inquiring because you have recently suffered a miscarriage, let me express to you how sorry I am for this.  I know this can be a very devastating time for a woman, and for the family.  It can be so difficult to understand how something like this can happen.  Even when we can’t understand what is going on, I pray you can trust the Lord, His love, His power, and His perfect will.  We read in Psalm 62:8, “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

Miscarriage is mentioned in the Bible in the Old Testament.  Although the Lord used it as a means of punishment for His wayward children, there is no mention in the New Testament that a miscarriage is a sign of God’s judgment.  When the Israelites had put away their idols and promised obedience to the Lord, He blessed them with great temporal blessings.  In Exodus 23:26 the Lord promises, “No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.”  (NKJV)  When the people were disobedient, the Lord might see fit to allow miscarriages among them.  Because of their disobedience and going after other gods, the Prophet Hosea told the people of Israel in Hosea 9:7 that, “The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it.”  The Lord was going to judge these unrighteous people.  He goes on to say in Hosea 9:14, “Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.”  I want to re-emphasize that although the Lord saw fit to use miscarriages to punish in the Old Testament, we find no clue of that in the New Testament.  Many people don’t realize that even hemorrhoids were a form of punishment the Lord used in the Old Testament.  I encourage you to read Deuteronomy 28:27 and 1 Samuel 5:6 to find a couple of examples.  Today, we don’t see that as a form of the Lord’s punishment.

We can take comfort in knowing that even before we are born, the Lord knew all about us.  The Lord told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”  King David wrote in Psalm 139:15-16, “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”  The Lord has His eyes on each of us, even before we are born.  Why would He allow someone to go through the heartache of miscarriage?  I cannot give a definitive answer to that question.  Perhaps that is something the Lord will explain to us when we are with Him in the glory.  It is important to realize that the Lord never takes pleasure from our misery.  Lamentations 3:33 tells us, “For He does not afflict willingly and from His heart or grieve the children of men.” (AMP)  Although He may allow unpleasant things to happen to us, He does not delight in our pain.  I’m reminded of the words of an old hymn that says:

Our times are in Thy hand,

Why should we doubt or fear?

A Father’s hand will never cause,

His child a needless tear.

We know the Lord’s ways are perfect and right.  We also know that all those children who did not survive until birth, whether by miscarriage or abortion are now in the presence of the Lord, and Psalm 16:11 assures us that, “in thy presence is fulness of joy.”  They are now experiencing a joy greater than could ever be achieved here on earth.  So, in spite of your loss and sorrow, you can trust in the Lord that He is caring for your loved one, and if you know Christ as your savior, you will see them again one day!  (179.10)