This is what Orphan Sunday looks like to me.
Chubby baby fingers and toes that grow at a ridiculous pace - soon becoming lanky pre-schoolers with huge brown eyes and smiles that melt your heart.
This little guy has rocked our world. He has shown us what unconditional love is all about. He is our living proof that God can and will use anyone. Undeserving, selfish, flawed as we are, God chose us to be a forever family to this little guy. He has allowed us to get in on His redemptive work. To be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves.
The mere thought that the God of the Universe would allow our family to come alongside Him and His sovereign plan for this little boy's life just blows me completely away. Most of you reading know Patrick's story, and if you don't, you can find it on the sidebar under the links marked Adoption.
November is Adoption Awareness Month and today is Orphan Sunday. I am so thankful for the opportunity to share a little bit with you today about adoption. It is such a beautiful picture of salvation and our relationship with our Heavenly Daddy.
In Romans 8:15, Paul writes, "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
And later in Galatians, we read, "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
Once we accept His gift of salvation, then God, the Almighty, perfectly holy Creator of all calls us His children. Can you fathom that just for a second? The infinite God desires to adopt you and me into His forever family. That is almost too much to comprehend.
To give us a clear earthly picture of that, we have adoption. I can assure you that Patrick has all the same love and acceptance in our family as our "natural born" or biological children. If I was not so passionate to share the joys and privileges of adoption, I could easily forget that I didn't actually give birth to him.
Adoption is God's very heart. I am completely convinced of that. It is not a choice or an option for His children. It is a command. How could it not be? There are children, made in His image, who are dying spiritually and literally, by the thousands, every single day. Do we dare think that God is ok with us ignoring that? He makes it clear in Luke that where much is given, much is expected. Friends in America (and elsewhere), we have MUCH. No matter your station in life, you have MUCH.
Do I think all families are called to adopt? That is really for another post, but the short answer is that I know, without a doubt, that all families are called to do something to help the orphan and the widow. No exceptions. And I think it is safe to say that many more families than do are called to adopt and they are ignoring that call.
God will never be pleased with our half hearted attempts at the orphan crisis. He will never be ok with us giving it a glance and a prayer on Orphan Sunday and then going on about our lives. Mother Teresa said, "It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you can live as you wish."
Ouch. I know that hits right where it hurts, but friends, this crisis is too big, too much to even begin to comprehend. The horrid conditions that some of these children live in is base and disgusting. There is no Biblical model for orphanages and institutions because God does not desire that they exist. Children belong in families!
If we, as the body of Christ, are not willing to fix this crisis, then who do we think is going to? Who else truly believes that all children are made in the image of God and have value? No matter what their "special need," no matter what they have been through. As my friends Linny and Dwight say, "The only special need any child has is the need for a family."
Church, this is OUR problem.
Like the state of our nation, it lies squarely at our feet. God has called us to rise up and be their voice. To sacrifice whatever it takes to rescue them. We can and we must rise up. We are a sleeping giant. Do we really realize and comprehend that we have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us? We have no excuses for not tackling this issue head on - God is on our side in this, and when God is for us, who can be against us?
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. ~Isaiah 1:17
There are so many amazing orphan ministries that I can't begin to name them all. I will list just a few that I am personally affiliated with and know are reputable and working hard in the trenches day in and day out. Choose one and get involved. It is not all about money, but you know as well as I do that it takes money to feed these children who are dying of starvation. It takes money to ransom them and bring them home. It takes money to send people on mission trips, to get in the trenches and love on these kids and their caregivers. It takes money to hire doctors to help them. God uses people just like you to fund these things. Listen to His voice and obey.
No excuses. Here is where you start.
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