“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9a).
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:10-12)
Spiritual warfare. I’d heard of it. I’d read about it in the Bible. But I had never really experienced it before (well, if I have, I didn’t realize that’s what it was!). Well now, I get it. A spill down some stairs. A broken wrist. A severe brain injury. Two days in the CCU. Three weeks and counting of recovery. Our family was under attack, still is! There have been several “attacks” over the past several months since we started this journey. Mostly small ones. But this! This was the real deal! This had the potential to destroy us. Our family. God’s plans for this adoption. For a little boy’s future. This was HARD!
Shortly after arriving at the hospital, just before they took Todd back for surgery on his hand, I read this verse, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen!” (1 Peter 5:10) I held on to this truth through this whole ordeal. The armor of God! And when my faith started slipping, when I started doubting, God reminded me of this verse. I knew that the Holy Spirit was talking to me by showing me this verse. Reassuring me that everything was going to turn out okay. Later, I felt compelled to look that verse up and read the entire passage. So, I read, just two verses prior, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9a). Spiritual! Warfare! This is what this is. I recognized it. So I was able to arm myself!
Many have asked, “Will this affect your adoption? Will it delay things?” How tempted one could be to throw in the towel and quit. God must not want us to do this. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be easier? Wouldn’t he protect us from all of this? These are all thoughts that we could be tempted to think. There are so many reasons not to follow through with this adoption at this point. Forget the “what-ifs” that are swirling through my head (what if something else were to happen to Todd after we bring Zack home and I have to raise a child with special needs on my own, etc, etc.), but also the “This is too hard. This following God thing.” and the “How in the world are we going to afford this now?” when the reality of the added financial burden sinks in, as medical bills will soon be pouring in, income will be less with Todd not working for a few weeks, while we are still about $10,000 short of what we need to complete the adoption. So many reasons to quit. To stop following God on THIS journey. But because we are armed with the armor of God, we know. We know these thoughts come from the enemy. Trying to destroy a beautiful plan. This is spiritual warfare! And so we WILL! NOT! STOP! We’ve got our eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. We’re off and running and we are not turning back! (Philippians 3: 13b-14, The Message). We have God on our side and this is HIS thing. He wants us to bring Zack home. He wants to show the world his awesome power through this story. “Sing to the Lord for he has done glorious things; let this be known to the world.” (Isaiah 12:5). God has carried us this far and he will carry us through this. To. The. End. HE WILL PROVIDE every penny we need! No doubt!
So, no. This will not affect our adoption. We will keep on moving forward! We hope to have our RA any day now. And we still hope to travel in November. And when this is all said and done we will say, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
Thanks to all of our friends and family for your support and prayers through all of this. Please continue to pray us through this and all the way to the end of this journey?
No comments:
Post a Comment