The One Percent Miracle – 3 Reasons to Choose Life

Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

John 9:1-2

My phone chimed, alerting me to a new text message. My mom was requesting prayers for my cousin’s newborn baby boy, Darius, who was born with Pierre Robin Sequence, a rare congenital birth defect characterized by an underdeveloped jaw which can cause the tongue to block the airway.

As I learned more about his case, what I heard was disheartening. Baby Darius had to be put on a respirator to keep his airway open. Just within days of being born, he had already caught an infection. A critical decision had to be quickly made whether or not to perform an emergency tracheostomy. With his airway being so small, the fatality risk – the doctors warned – was 99%. Darius’s chance of survival was only 1%.

Upon hearing of Baby Darius’s physical challenges, I could only wonder what his parents might be going through. Many people around the world would question why God would allow something like this to happen. Moreover, I have heard others argue why choose life when it is heartless to bring a child into this world, knowing that he or she would only suffer?

But is it really up to us to decide if a life should be born or not? Is it up to us to decide who is fit to live and who is not? Who has value and who has not? Who has purpose and who has not? Could it be that God has a plan for every life born with or without physical challenges and limitations that is beyond our human comprehension and beyond what we can see?

This is my cousin’s story – a father’s journey to faith in the midst of the birth of his son.

3 Powerful Reasons to Choose Life

We may not understand why God allows certain things to happen or why he allows great difficulty and suffering in our lives. Yet one thing is for sure, He is in absolute total control of every situation which He works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). This includes the lives of every unborn child. Here are three essential reasons to choose life regardless of difficulty.

1. His or her story is already written

Psalm 139:16 says:

[Y]our eyes saw my unformed body [in the womb]. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

We can take great comfort in knowing that our Almighty God who sees us knows the beginning and the ending of our story. According to this psalm, our stories are already written in God’s book. Written with a plan and a purpose.

Therefore, the story of each unborn child is already written. And this includes those who are born with imperfections and physical challenges. He saw their unformed bodies, and their days were already determined before one of them came to be. Who are we to stand in the way of God’s purpose in one who would be abnormally born?

2. So the works of God can be displayed

In John 9, we read a story how Jesus and His disciples encountered a man born blind. It reads:

While He was passing by, He noticed a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" 

Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him" (AMP).

The story continues on and tells of Jesus rubbing mud on the blind man’s eyes then telling him to wash it out in a pool. So the man goes off and washed, and he “came home seeing” (John 9:7).

God had a plan for the blind man that Jesus’ disciples did not foresee. God’s miraculous power displayed in his life was the purpose of his blindness.

It is the same for us who are born with or later receive challenges – that through them the works of God can be displayed through our lives. We may not understand immediately why these trials come or see God’s work through them. But this is the place in which our faith can be strengthened. As missionary Lilias Trotter wrote:

Take the very hardest thing in your life - the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot. Just there He can bring Your soul into blossom.

3. He chooses the weak and foolish things

A pattern we see in the Bible is that God often uses the weak and foolish things in the world to use for His purposes and glory. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says:

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

David was a lowly shepherd boy who fought against the giant Goliath. Moses was a forgotten exile who delivered God’s people from Egypt. Queen Esther was an orphan. And most of Jesus’s disciples were uneducated men.

If God works the same way in our world today, then we are in error to think that God can only use those of us who are strong, gifted, and are born healthy. When we are weak, that’s when Christ’s power can be seen the most. Those who are born with difficulties are more likely to showcase His glory than those born without.

A Father’s Faith

On August 3, 2022, my cousin Rich’s son was born with more harrowing complications than he and his wife expected. A high risk emergency tracheostomy had to be decided immediately, and Rich had to grapple with its dismal reality: his son’s life was hanging by his father’s decision of a simple yes or no.

The night before, Rich’s brother told him, “Why don’t you just offer [Darius] to God? You got no choice anyway.”

But Rich’s first thought was no! He confessed he was never the praying kind. He said, “I’ve always thought I could handle things on my own because I thought I build myself up.”

Stupefied, Rich agreed to the procedure. He and his wife went to the hospital church. Surprisingly, the message that was shared was the story of Abraham who offered his son Isaac back to God (Genesis 22). That was when he realized that God was speaking to him, telling him to put his trust in Him.

The One Percent Miracle

Rich admitted that He was never the kind to believe in miracles, but the moment they stepped outside of the church, the head doctor was waiting for them with unbelievable news: their son had made it.

The doctors gave Darius only a 1% chance of survival from the surgery. But that was more than what God needed. He is mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17). In the first few days of his life, Darius has already demonstrated God’s work in His life – something that many of us take a lifetime to do. He is an example of how God uses the weak things in life to show His glory.

Rich was completely astounded. In His grace, God worked a miracle in spite of his little faith. He reported to a family member:

"Honestly, I'm a man of science. But that day, nobody could tell me all that had happened meant nothing or was just coincidence. It had to be God. And now I just see Him. In His name, He saved my son. All these years I thought God has forgotten about me, like I was exiled. Now, He reconnects with me through my son."

His son’s life, although weak and fragile, has great purpose. His father coming back to Christ is one of them!

The Greater the Challenge, the Greater the Glory

Baby Darius was born with many physical challenges. Rich describes his incredible need for help:

Darius would need help not only with the hospital bills but also due to another surgery that he will need as he grows up. His jaw would require surgery in order to allow him to breathe normally and also allow him to have a better life. This along with other conditions such as lack of ear holes, missing one nose hole, missing his right thumb, and a plethora of other challenges he will need to overcome.

The needs are insurmountable. But we serve a God who is the God of the impossible. The greater challenge, the greater His glory can be seen.

Darius’s family will love and appreciate your participation in accomplishing God’s work his life. His parents will also need much prayer and support. Please pray that Rich and his wife will continue to trust God with everything during this very trying time. Also pray for Baby Darius that God will continue to sustain him, to provide for all their medical needs, and that his life will continue to showcase the works of God.

Please also consider making a donation by clicking on the picture below. Any help you can give has eternal value and is greatly appreciated! Rich says, “With your help, Darius will have a better shot at having a normal life, and you can be part of God’s miracle at work.”