Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to do it.
Isaiah 1:17
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow's cause.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Psalm 37:3-5
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
In our homemade homeschool co-op this year I have been teaching two classes to our high school students: US Government and Servant Leadership. It has been a great year and we have learned so much together. Together we have read Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris and Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Both were challenging at different levels. Do Hard Things offered the students a challenge to step up toward adulthood, showed them that they were equipped to make hard choices to serve. Crazy Love was motivational, challenging them to live for Christ as their highest treasure.
I have challenged the students in my class and our children at home to spend their lives for Christ. When one of the kids tells me we don't have time to do this or that I often reply, "All we have is time." Our bank account is refilled with time each morning that the Lord wakes us up. Way better than a monetary bank account which doesn't get refilled while we are sleeping each night! All day long we get to choose how we spend that time. Surely there are things that must be done, even the monotony of daily life is ordained for us. The Lord orders our steps and our days, and we can choose to spend that time joyfully serving Him or grumbling about the next thing to do on our list. We can choose to spend our days and our moments purposefully, spending our lives for Christ. What better thing could our lives be spent on?
This journey on earth has shown us that God is good and sovereign, even in hard and heartbreaking times. It has shown us that "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names." (Psalm 147:3-4) Even though God has purposed some hard times for us, we can trust that He does so with our eternal good in mind and that He will heal our hearts as it says in Job 5:18 "For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters but his hands heal." There is such hope in knowing that God is good and sovereign and that He cares deeply for us.
In the wake of pain and grief and sorrow we don't have to wonder what to do. In the midst of joy and blessing we don't have to wonder what to do. He tells us clearly how to live each day according to His Word. Every morning that He wakes us we can rejoice because we know that His purpose for us is to to delight in Him, to good works, to care for the fatherless and the widow, to share the gospel, to rejoice with joy, to hope in Him.
During the past year, God ordained that we would lose not one, but two precious babies. And He promises to work together all things for good for those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) We believe that. We have seen His good work in our family as we cling to Him. We have seen hearts healed and we have watched souls surrender to Him. Even as our arms are empty, not holding these precious little ones, God's desire is that we spend these days doing good, living as though He is our treasure, spending ourselves according to His Word.
And so, our empty arms are able to be used according to His Word, to bless a precious little one in our local foster care system for a time. Only for a time. It is our joy to be the family that can love her, sing to her, hold her, and pray over her until God moves her on. We are trusting that "God sets the lonely in families" (Psalm 68:6) and while her forever home will not be with us, we are delighting to see this beautiful journey unfold for her.
We began the process to do foster care through our county last spring and worked slowly toward that goal as a family. We have loved our experience with Safe Families for Children and wanted to expand our ministry as a family to children in need. It has been a wonderful experience for our entire family and has opened our eyes and given us a new appreciation for those who care for children and families in the foster care and child protection system.
No comments:
Post a Comment