Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch and in today's episode, we're asking the question, should pregnant women take Tylenol? Now, this is prompted by an article I read in the Wall Street Journal looking at President Trump's recent comments about what he purports is a link between autism and pregnant women using the product or the root, I guess, drug of Tylenol. And this has prompted, as you might imagine, a significant backlash, first among some in the scientific community who take issue with the. The lack of studies or the lack of evidence linking Tylenol to autism. Uh, with mothers who are kind of raging against, hey, being pregnant is difficult and often painful. And now you're putting fear into our minds to women who are going, hey, look, if there is a link between Tylenol and autism, I want to know two moms of autistic children who are now having to sort through their own feelings and maybe even the feelings of those around them, that perhaps they were the unintentional cause of, of their children's autism. I think this is a particularly pastoral issue because my guess is, at a church, you have all those women, and so how should they think biblically about the concept of, uh, autism and their own choices? Where is God? What's he doing? And look, full disclosure, I am not a medical doctor. I'm not a medical researcher. Uh, I have no idea about what drugs cause what things. It is true that, that over the history of our country, we have learned after the fact that, for example, smoking or drinking alcohol when you're pregnant isn't good for you. Well, there was a time when we didn't know that. There have also been, even over the course of just my brief life so far, a number of radical medical claims that have proven to be ridiculous and false. Which one this is, I'm not qualified to say, but I do. I am qualified to offer some theological guidance on how you should think about your own emotions as it relates to issues like this. Let me just start here. The Bible would call us to wisdom, not panic. Okay? James 1:5 says that any of us, if any of us, lack wisdom, we should ask God, and it will be given. Sometimes, as Christians, we forget the fact that we have access to the God who made us, to the God who knows our bodies, to the God who has these answers. Listen, whichever news agency you go to, whatever accounts you follow on social media are either going to tell you Trump is crazy or he's a visionary on the issue of Tylenol and autism. And I don't know the truth and you don't know the truth, but God does. So my first encouragement is that you actually make this part of your prayer life. God, how should I think about this? What truth is there to this? I'm not suggesting that somehow, like a lightning bolt, the truth of Tylenol's effects is going to hit you in the brain. I'm just saying that panic is worrying about things you don't have answers for and you can't control. Prayer is taking those same things to a, ah, God who has the answers and can control them. Here's the second thing. You have to trust God's sovereignty. Listen, Isaiah 26:3 says that perfect peace comes from a mind that is stayed on God. I don't know how all my choices are affecting those around me on a day to day basis, let alone on a grand scale when it comes to my five kids. I don't know how my habits and behaviors are forming them in ways that are helpful and not helpful. And probably if I spent too much time worrying about that, I would go crazy. Listen, the Bible is calling us to a kind of calm that comes from knowing God is sovereign. Your child is made in his image. He knows the hairs on your child's head. He knows how long your child is going to live. Your child's life is in his hand. Now I recognize that doesn't answer every question we have, but it does remind us that our child's life is not floating in the river of our own decisions. Uh, we want to make wise decisions, but ultimately that river is, is governed by a God who's sovereign. Which is to lead me to my third point, which is to say knowing that God has the answers and knowing that he's in control means that all that really falls to me is to steward my body and my child. In 1 Corinthians 6, 19, 20, we're told to glorify God in our bodies. And what I think that means is we do the best we can with the information that we have. We eat healthy foods, we avoid unhealthy practices. So do the research, reach your own conclusion, but do that under the auspices of resting in the sovereign control of God. And I'll just say this, this is my fourth point. This is an opportunity for us to encourage one another, okay? To encourage that mom whose child is autistic, that God is sovereign and ultimately in control of, of the direction of our future and of our lives and to help her with the guilt and shame the President's comments might have caused her to feel. Working through what's real and what's not, what's helpful and what's not for that pregnant mom to encourage her with an understanding that God is in control, that God cares for her and loves her. Maybe to encourage those who are fear mongering to stop. My point is, uh, I don't always know if the way I'm reacting to something is healthy or good. I need people around me to help me sort through that. Let's be that for each other. And then finally, let's rest in this Jeremiah 1:5 God says to Jeremiah, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you Listen. God loves your child. God has a plan and purpose for your child. And as much as your moral actions matter, they cannot ultimately derail the plan and purpose of God. Uh, rest in him. And maybe spend a little less time going down the rabbit hole of social media. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

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