From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
The journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land speaks to my heart.
As many know, the name of the post abortion ministry, "Entering Canaan", came to me in prayer, and reflects the journey of healing from a past abortion.
The Israelites impatient with God because their journey was taking so long. Because of their suffering they began to doubt Him and murmur against Him.
How often do we do the same? We want to be healed here and now not trusting in His plan for our complete healing.
As a punishment, God sends serpents who bite the people causing many to die. Realizing their sin, they go to Moses and ask that he pray to God to have the serpents taken away.
God then instructs Moses to mount a serpent on a pole and "whoever looks at it after being bitten will live".
God uses the very thing that ended many lives and brought them pain to convert them and heal them of their sin.
He does the same with us. Through the death of our children He brings us to Himself and teaches us about His ways and His love. He uses our children who we rejected to teach us about His love. This of course, does not make abortion okay, but God who is merciful uses all for good if we allow Him to, and so He takes our worse sin and uses it to bring us to Himself.
Many of you know when the name Entering Canaan came to me in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament I could not understand how this would fit a ministry to those suffering from abortion, but if you read the journey of the Israelites into the Promised Land it is easy to see why the Holy Spirit chose this name.
May we always trust in Him knowing He guides the way in our healing journey to Him.
