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I mentioned the other day, I have had the privilege to be a part of an amazing redemption story. Although I am pretty certain that adoption is not what the Lord has for us, I have gotten to sit on the sidelines of many adoption stories. I've had good friends who were adopted. I've walked along friends as they were adopting locally and internationally- one child and sibling groups. I've had friends whose hearts were broken by adoption when the birth mother has changed her mind or the judge has given custody to another.
In all this, I think adoption is one of our most powerful demonstrations of the Lord's love and pursual of us. Take the story I shared last week for example...
A precious baby boy was born out of wedlock. He had no country to call his own. No idea who his father may be. And, his mother could not care for him and most of the time did not even want him. He was doomed from the start.
Meanwhile, in another city, far away, a couple had been unable to have children.. In desperation, they had set aside the month of December to fast, pray, and seek the Lord- begging them for a child of their own. As the new year dawned, they learned of a child who had been abandoned and needed a miracle. Immediately, they turned to the Lord and asked if they could pursue this orphan.
They felt the Lord urging them ahead and they began to hope that this was their son. But, the path toward parenthood has not and will not be easy. As a child without a nationality, the bureaucracy seems insurmountable. But the Lord is faithful and He provides.
Do you know that someone felt the Lord prompting them to give a large financial gift to our friends at the end of the year? Of course, this was before the adoption was even on the horizon... or should I say, before the adoption was on
our horizon. Our faithful Father was laying a path, not paving a superhighway, but laying a path, brick by brick, slowly in front of our friends. And they were obediently taking each step with their eyes on the Father, not their own desires.
Our friends contacted the donor and asked if they could use some of the money towards the adoption. We all know that adoption is not cheap, and the legal gymnastics involved with this adoption were going to be expensive. Would you believe that the donor had several adopted children and was more than happy for the money to be used in that way!
Again, the Lord was working faithfully- knitting a family together.
(If our friends were without integrity, our friends could easily find some local guy and pay him off to put his name on the birth certificate. That would give the child a nationality and make him easily adoptable.)
So, once this child has been granted legal refugee status he become adoptable and gains local nationality. With that, he can get the proper identification papers needed to see a doctor. Did I mention this precious orphan has some minor health problems that could easily heal with proper care? However, physicians cannot treat him while he has no identity. Also, as soon as he receives his refugee status, our friends can begin the process of adopting him.
Everyone involved knew that our friends were the parents for this child. They come from a country where the adoption process is relatively easy and painless. Once the legalities are cleared up on this side, he will officially become a citizen of his parents' passport country. Praise the Lord, they don't have to return to their country and begin the immigration and naturalization process, which in many countries can be quite lengthy. The family can stay right here, get the medical care the baby needs, and begin to bond.
It's beautiful and complicated. But the crux of the whole story is there was a child- weak and helpless, dirty and ill. He had no place to call home and no mother or father to care for him, kiss his chubby cheeks, and tell him how beloved he is.
But, the Lord was working in the unseen realm. He was preparing a future for this child. Regardless of the circumstances, every cell in this child's body was formed by the Lord with tender care. He was raising up parents that would give this child a glimpse of His deep abiding love. He was even providing the money before the need was realized.
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| Mother and son meeting for the first time. |
This child's story is a story of redemption. But, you don't have to be an orphan health concerns born to and abandoned by an illegal prostitute to experience the Lord's redemption. I think we are all like that poor baby. Dirty and helpless, full of sin and desperate for a Father to tell us we are beloved and give us a future. And so, He did it. Jesus while fully God, in a most mysterious way, lowered himself and became human. He walked the earth and suffered the same trials and tribulations that we do. He went even farther and allowed himself to be shamed and tortured.
Why did He do it?
Again, the Lord was working faithfully- knitting a family together. Through the blood of Jesus, the dreadful debt that we owe has been paid. We can approach the Lord- not as aloof judge criticizing our every action and thought, but as loving Father. When we acknowledge Him, he swoops us into His arms, strokes our cheek lovingly, and calls us His beloved children.
You see, He not only redeems us from our fate, the pit of hell, He puts a robe on our shoulders, a ring on our finger, and gives us a seat at the family table.
That is what He is doing for this precious orphan, and that is what He has done for me and you! Praise the Lord!
