The battlefield

As we move ahead in our adoption I am being reminded of the battle that lays before us. A very experienced and wise mom who had adopted many children told me "Once you enter the adoption journey you are on the battlefield with Satan". She is so right. Satan doesn't want these children placed in families. He wants them to remain in bondage to abandoment and shame, unloved. A recent disruption in my community has reminded me of this battle. It has propelled me to reread the books like "Adoptive parenting from the ground up" and "The Connected Child". It has reminded me to pray in advance for this journey and hurdles we will have.

If you are adopting or adopting for the first time read these verses and let them sink in
1. Psalm 68: 5-6 "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his
holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, ....

God is the father and defender of the orphan. He is leading you into this battle. Some might think to use the word "battle" is a bit dramatic. I think it is not. While in China with our first adoption I felt the breathe of Satan on my neck. He pursued us. He wanted to fill us with doubt, fear, confusion. To a certain degree he was succesful. We stuggled and felt very alone. I think Satan is so interested in these children because in many cases they are living in darkness - they do not know the truth of Christ and Satan doesn't want them to hear. Not only is the child living in darkness they may come from generations of unbelief. Adoption is changing all of that. A child will know they are wanted, valued, and loved. I also think God is glorified when a child is brought into a family. The world wonders why you would take "the risk", "possibly destroy your current family", "love one that you didn't birth"., ect. The world is right we wouldn't do it on our own. It is only because of GOD that we can do it.

2. Ephesians 6:10-18 "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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

God has given us our armor/weapons so that we will triumph and be the parents he is calling us to be to these adopted children. He says our armor is Truth, Righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, holy spirit.

Truth - Satan will try to impose falsehoods into your thinking. He will try to make you doubt your calling to adopt or make you doubt your ability to parent a certain child or parent certain needs. The truth is God equips those he calls. Ultimatley the TRUTH is these children NEED homes it is our Christian responsiblity to Care for these children.

Righteousness. As Satan trys to fill you with doubt and fear call on The One who can do it and will do it through you. God knows your short comings, your sin, and all the things that might lead you down a road of failing. Therefore, he sent Christ so that we can clothe ourselves in his righteousness and stand firm. HE will go before us and hem us in from behind. It is because of him we can succeed.

Peace - During the storms and trials there is only one who can send the peace. Look to him and ask for it. It might be chaotic around you but God can fill your heart with peace.

Faith - Faith is knowing that God KNOWS BETTER THAN YOU! Worrying is thinking you know better than God! Put all your eggs in his basket. As you walk in faith he will transfrom you. This is sometimes painful. It is always painful when God takes away the yuck in your life. After our first adoption I felt like a tree. A tree that had had all its branches lopped off and was constanly bleeding sap. It was painful but God had to get rid of the yuck in my heart. The end result is he has conformed you to look more like him!

Salvation - Keep our eyes on the cross. Remember God says our life is just a mist - here today gone tomorrow. The trial of this life will pass away. As we journey through adoption God is giving us the blessing to see the working outs of ETERNAL salvation in someone who was discarded but God says is his TREASURE. Along with that there will be the day when our Salvation into eternity is fulfilled and we stand before God and we have to give an accounting of what we did for the orphan.

Holy Spirit - The one who lives in us and guides us. I recently heard someone say we need to work on tuning in and really listening for the spirit. IN other words she was saying we have a frequency problem and need to adjust our "ear radios"