It was Father's Day. Our pastor, Skip MacMillan, was preaching a sermon on Deuteronomy 1 where Moses was recounting to the Israelites the last time they stood at the precipice of the land of Canaan (the Promise Land). Moses spoke of the fear and disbelief that prevented the Israelites from obediently entering ad taking possession of the land. This disobedience condemned the Israelites to wander the desert for forty years.
Skip cautioned us against similar disobedience citing specific examples in Deuteronomy 1:26-28. In those verses Skip discussed 3 things the Israelites did that lead them into a dark, disobedience.
1. Unwillingness "Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God" ( v. 26)
2. Believe Lies about the Lord to excuse disobedience “you murmured in your tents and said, 'Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” (v. 27)3. Blame Other People for their own disobedience “Our brothers have made our hearts melt...” (v. 28)
As I considered these things, specifically the Unwillingness to follow and obey God, to trust God promises, power, love for them, I found myself asking the Lord to show me areas of unwillingness in my heart.
The answer was so loud, so clear, that I felt like my head and heart might explode! God made it clear to me that for some time he had been calling our family to adopt a child and I until that moment had been unwilling to obey. The thought that ran over and over and over in my mind was "You have a daughter in another country- go get her." There was such a sense of finality in that moment- the direction was clear and I was to walk in it. As the Israelites were called to walk in God's promise into the Land of Canaan our family was called to walk down the path of adoption.
During that service (and the following one which I stayed in to make sure I was hearing clearly!) the Lord blessed me with encouragement. He brought to mind several recent and positive adoption conversations I had had with friends and family... there were moments while singing that I was so overcome with love for my daughter that I couldn't even sing or stop the tears from flowing... At one point a little girl who was adopted from China literally fell at my feet... A friend that will be traveling to Guatemala to work at an orphanage just "happened" to approach me after worship... so many encouraging "coincidences" from a Father that knows I need them!
And so our journey begins! As our family walks down this road to bring our daughter home we ask for your prayers. We are aware that the Giants on this road are many and yet we are certain if the LORD delights in us, he will fulfill this desire he has given us and he will work the details out to bring our daughter home.
3 comments:
It is a beautiful thing when the Spirit moves in our lives to increase his kingdom and our joy.
Our daughter, as our boys have, will do both with her life. She'll be brought up in the instruction of the Lord and will add to our joy by loving and trusting Jesus.
There's quite a bit of uncertainty, but even more peace in our hearts.
The Lord is faithful and good.
Incredible! I have a friend in Tx. who has a son from Korea; a friend here has a son from Honduras; another friend is waiting for her grandson to arrive from Africa. Praying for you and your family as you embark on this journey!
Maria- I love this post! I will be praying for you, Niles and the boys every morning during my quiet time. I know through this obedience you will find much joy! I'm waiting with anticipation to hear more about this journey!
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