Have you ever thought about why we go through what we go through?
Romans 4:17b
…the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
I am constantly asking God why things happen, regardless of what it is: good, bad, hurtful, happy, freeing, scary, etc.
For the last several days we’ve faced some difficulties with one of our sons. Having been adopted a little over two years ago at the age of 15, he has struggled not only with the English language and school, but has struggled with inter-family relationships (particularly with my wife) and bonding into our family. He stated that the hardest thing for him is learning how to be in a family and his relationship with his (adopted) Mom.
This is not an uncommon issue for kids adopted late in life and raised by an institution for most of their lives. You see, our son was in the orphanage in Russia for 10 years, from ages 6 – 15. One would think that knowing about this issue would make it easier, as a parent. It would make us more understanding and more patient. Merely knowing it doesn’t make it any easier in the throws of life. I’ve really begun to understand how important it is to walk in someones shoes before even forming an opinion (a kind word for a judgement). Dawn and I are continually having to get on our face before Father God on behalf of our children and on our own behalf. There are days that we cry out for God’s love and strength for the day to flow through us because there is no way we can do it on our own.
A few days ago, this son, told us he no longer wanted to be here, in America, in our family. He wanted to go back to Russia and pick up his life there. As you can imagine, it broke our hearts. It also made us angry, to be so dismissed, so casually. I cannot tell you how amazing our God is. He orchestrates and moves things in HIS timing that would blow our feeble minds, were we to grasp it all. A long story short, Papa orchestrated many, many events over the last 5 days that have impacted our son. He has brought orphans from the same region in Russia to the states for 2 weeks who cannot believe our son would want to go back. They have shared with him how destitute and awful it is there, especially for orphans. Those kids who did not make it into a technical school (the lowest form of post-9th grade education) are on the streets turning to crime, drugs and prostitution. Many of them commit suicide. The prognosis of our son even surviving if he would have gone back were slim.
Romans 4:17b …the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
We are thankful that he has changed his mind. We are believing for God to really grab his heart. We are praying for a Damascus Road type of experience, where God really rocks his world.
We still have many issues to deal with and he still has many decisions to make, but for today I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for his grace and mercy and orchestration in intervening on behalf of my son.
I am excited to see what Father is going to do with the last part of that verse, “… calls things that are not as though they were.“
Running After Papa…