“Adoption … is greater than the universe … Adoption was part of God’s plan. It was his idea, his purpose. It was not an afterthought. He didn’t discover one day that against his plan and foreknowledge humans had sinned and orphaned themselves in the world, and then come up with the idea of adopting them into his family. No, Paul says, he predestined adoption. He planned it.” – John Piper
Adoption is greater than the universe. Maybe that’s why, as the day draws closer, my own insecurities grow. In 12 days we add a 10 year-old son and a 12 year-old daughter to the five biological children living at home. And in some moments it feels bigger than the universe.
In my quiet moments my head swirls with fears.
- What if they don’t love me?
- What if we can’t meet their needs emotionally or even physically?
- What if they want to go back home?
- What if the pull to the biological family is greater than the pull to us?
- What if we have trouble bonding?
- What if they kids don’t bond?
- What if there are behavior issues we don’t know about?
- What if, what if, what if….
What if I surrender all my fears and “what-if’s” to a God who said this:
And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of … my chosen one. I am the Lord; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me, so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. Is. 45:4-5
What if I trust that God called me to this work before I even knew his name? What if I trust that this is for the sake of his chosen children? What if I trust that there is no other God? And that God equipped me for this mission when I was still a wanderer? What if this same God has already worked out all the details so that the world will know that he is God?
If I trust THAT… well I’d say everything will be just fine.
Today I choose to take my fear, anxiety, worry and trepidation to that God. Today I choose to trust that he has called me to this and he has equipped me for it long before I knew this day was coming. Today I will step in confidence that the Lord, God the Almighty has got me covered.
Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. Heb. 13:20-21
