I love the above quote by David Platt, author of the book Radical. This precious, sweet boy is the "face" of the adoption movement - for me. If I had asked permission from my friends I could put pictures of a dozen more children just like him that are the personal "faces" for their families. If you check out the blogs I follow, more than half of them are centered around that particular family's "faces."
When I look into these huge gray-green eyes and I kiss that wrinkled up nose, then everything changes. When I hear his precious little voice yell "Mama" and I see him throw his chubby arms in the air and scream "Dance, Dance" every time he hears music - everything changes. When he bows his head and says, "Jeeesus" before he eats - everything changes. The face of the orphan is real and it is personal. The cries that haunt my dreams have names, hopes, dreams, and they have faces. They have this face. The face of this little boy who 18 months ago, changed everything for our family.
Now, we are without excuse. We can not say that we didn't know. We can not pretend they do not exist. We have held him in our arms. We have seen his face. We know his name.
There is not a day that goes by when my thoughts are far from the plight of the orphan. I utter prayers constantly that God would comfort them. That He would call His people out and send them to the uttermost parts of the world to rescue them. I beg Him to send me - again and again and again. Until we completely run out of room or money -- because we will NEVER run out of love.
I am constantly amazed at the faith of my children. They teach me so much more every day about the things that matter then I will ever teach them, no matter how many years we home school. Every day, when they grab their baby brother up into a huge bear hug and tickle his belly. Every day, when they ask again, "Daddy, can we adopt another baby?" Every day, when they don't think about the sacrifices it takes to add another child to the family. There is less of Mom and Dad to go around, more time babysitting for free, more sharing of rooms, toys, and time. Those things never bother them. They never count the cost, or maybe they counted the cost and see what Jesus sees. They see their brother's face. It is real - and there are so many, many more just like him who need brothers and sisters and Mommies and Daddies.
"You can't save them all." "You have to stop sometime." I hear these two statements a lot, and I have a response to them both. To the first statement, I say, "No, I can't, but together, the body of Christ can." It really is that simple.
To the second, I say, "Really? I didn't get that memo." I have yet to read anywhere in Scripture that I have to "stop" sometime. Stop having babies is what I assume people who say this to me are referring to. Sure, physically, I have to "stop" sometime. Apparently, I have stopped physically, since I haven't been pregnant in ten years. However, I have never seen anywhere in Scripture where God put an age or an amount of children on when you had to "stop." I have never seen anything that told me that 1.3 kids and a dog is the "perfect" amount. I have never seen anything that said that I must have a certain amount of money in the bank or a certain size house or a 15 passenger van in order to keep having children. In fact, what I see are things like "be fruitful and multiply" "rescue the perishing" "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
These children are dying! Many physically, the rest spiritually. Do you really think they care how old their parents are or how many brothers and sisters they have? Do you really think they care if they live in a mansion on a hill? Do not tell me that it's not "fair" to them to have to share a bedroom or to have to get a job to help pay college expenses. Do not tell me that living in an overcrowded orphanage or a foster home is preferable to a family. Worst of all, do not tell those things to yourself because they are all just excuses.
I don't often read the Message translation of the Bible, but I love this verse from Proverbs 24.
"Rescue the perishing;
don't hesitate to step in and help.
If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business,"
will that get you off the hook?
Someone is watching you closely, you know—
Someone not impressed with weak excuses." Proverbs 24:25
If you say, "Hey, that's none of my business,"
will that get you off the hook?
Someone is watching you closely, you know—
Someone not impressed with weak excuses." Proverbs 24:25
Friends, God is not impressed with our excuses. He is not impressed with us crafting one reason after another why the call to help the orphan is not for us. There is no pre-requisite or exception on that call. James 1:27 says "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." I don't see that as anything less than a command. If you don't believe it though, there is more. "Open your mouth, judge righteously and defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:9 "Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse." Proverbs 28:27
I could go on and on. Sometimes I feel like the whole issue of 147 million orphans is so overwhelming that it is useless to even talk about it. Yes, I am aware of what so many seem to enjoy telling me "I can't save them all." But, I can care for the ones that God gives me. And you can care for the ones that He gives you. All we can do is obey. God is the one who does the saving and He is looking for those willing to submit to Him.
Are you?
No comments:
Post a Comment