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Obedience, Sainthood and Eternity
My devotional this week said, “Surrendered people obey God’s Word, even when it doesn’t make sense.”. “Give yourselves to God … surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.” (Romans 6:13b TEV)
Obedience means obeying even when you are afraid.
Obedience means following God’s lead even when you can’t see the path in front of you.
Obedience means not debating, questioning, reasoning with, or making excuses for why you can’t do something.
It takes a lot of faith to proceed even when it doesn’t make sense. It took me years to get to this point. Years to truly listen to the word of God, but when you see God’s miracles in your life over and over again. When you see how perfect His plan is, you start to let go of what you thought was right for your life and trust in His plan for your life.
There is nothing amazing about us and being able to do what we are doing. It has become somewhat of a joke to us because the number one thing that people say to us is “You are saints.” First off, I will say if you are a Christian, you too are a saint. In the Bible, believers were referred to as saints on many different occasions. So in reality, I am a saint, but not for the reasons you would say. I am a saint because Christ died for my sins and by believing in Him I become a member of God’s adopted family – a person holy for that reason only. I am a person who fails and sins and is so much less than on most days.
Our proceeding with these adoptions is because of obedience only. It is because we have seen the hand of God on so many different occasions that we choose to listen and proceed when He lays something on our hearts. I have often said, “But I can’t. Lord, this doesn’t make sense. How in the world are we going to do that?” But God’s calling is right there. Your heart is heavy with what you know to be the truth. You just know it’s the right thing to do even if it doesn’t make sense. Then things start to line up, things that others said could never happen – happen, and God says once again, “Listen my child. I will provide a way. I will bring you through whatever I bring you to. This is my plan. Trust in me.”
People say things to us like, “What about your retirement? Don’t you want to travel? Won’t you be tired? How in the world are you going to do this? You’ll never be able to….” Believe me I get it. I have said some of those things to myself. Five kids under four at my age seems a little daunting at times. But then I think about their lives. Am I willing to trade a trip to Hawaii for giving Min or Lainey or Evie or Eli a home? Am I willing to let Ben or Evie or Eli die, alone, in a cold orphanage? Am I willing to not listen to the calling of God? Am I willing to say to Min “Child, a life on the street is okay for you? Prostitution? Early death? No love of a family? Well, that’s okay cause I’m going to Hawaii.” I am NOT willing to make those trades. I am willing to trade my sleep for bringing them the love of family. I am willing to trade new clothes, a fancy car, and any imaginable vacation out there to let them know God’s love and what being adopted into God’s family means.
I have been sitting on this post for a while now. No one wants to listen to me preach again about adoption or at least that was what I was thinking but then I saw this video posted on Facebook and I understood. I needed a better illustration of what I was trying to say. I spent my life, in the 40 plus years before we even saw an orphanage, living for this one small moment in my life….retirement. The magical illusion of when everything will be great. Your children are grown. It’s just you and your husband traveling the world. Living happily ever after, but if you believe Christ died for you, then your life on earth is but a small portion of eternity.
We did not proceed with our adoptions because of some great reward. If we weren’t doing it for love, then it would be worthless. We would be doing it for all the wrong reasons and then it would be like straw or stubble to God. God knows what is in your heart. God knows what you are giving and why. You can’t earn God’s love. You can’t buy your way into heaven.
James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
But there are so many verses telling you to care for the orphan and the widow, the poor and the needy, to take care of those that need your help. If you can help, and you choose not to then it is not just wrong, it is sin. It goes against everything the Bible is commanding. EVERYTHING! Don’t fool yourself into thinking what the world is saying is the right way. You will not be happy because you took a trip. You will not be happy because you saved all this money so you could retire and golf or knit or sew or see the world. That is not what your life should be about. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong to travel or golf, but your life should include following God’s lead and opening your eyes to the hurt in the world. Too many children are slaves. Too many children are being sold in the sex trafficking market. Too many children are dying alone in a cold, lonely orphanage. Too many children spend their lives never knowing the love of a family. Too many children are going to bed hungry or drinking dirty water. Don’t kid yourself that it’s ok and someone else will save them. These kids are waiting for you to show them the love of God. Ask God and He will show you a need. Ask God to use you for His plan. Ask God to make your life count. Don’t just exist. Don’t just follow the world’s lead. Stand out! Do something! Be the hands and feet of Christ. It is possible – one need at a time, one person at a time, one life at a time.
