The Terror of Being Adopted

Many times when I am sharing the idea of the gospel with those who have not believed or received it, I use the idea of adoption. It's imagery is so perfect... (maybe that is why it's in the Bible!) But one of the facts of adoption is so profound yet rarely shared in the gospel conversation. It makes sense when we are talking about physical adoption, but we don't want to admit it when it comes to spiritual adoption. The fact is that when a child is first adopted - literally when he or she is transferred into the arms of their new mom and dad, they are usually NOT FEELING WARM AND CUDDLY FEELINGS. In fact they are probably SCARED TO DEATH! Think about it, they barely know their "mom and dad." The experiences are often times so new that all they long for are the "safe" confines of the predictable orphanage - no matter how grotesque the situation was. Reminds me of the people freed from slavery in Egypt only to whine about how they would rather return to that slavery than the face the risk that comes with freedom.

But spiritually this happens as well. When a person believes and receives Jesus Christ as Savior the spiritual adoption is complete and that person is given the "right to become the son of God." Yet this person knows very little about the nature of their new adoptive father. Nor have they experienced any "adventures" of risk and faith that their father loves to take them on. These were my thoughts when I read this portion of Adopted For Life by Russell Moore.

When Maria and I at long last received the call that the legal process was over, and we returned to Russia to pick up our new sons, we found that their transition from orphanage to family was more difficult than we had supposed. We dressed the boys in outfits our parents had bought for them. We nodded out thanks to the orphanage personnel and walked out into the sunlight, to the terror of the two boys.
They'd never seen the sun, and they'd never felt the wind. They had never heard the sound of a car door slamming or felt like they were being carried along a road at 100 miles an hour. I noticed that they were shaking and reaching back to the orphanage in the distance. I whispered to the boys, "That place is a pit! If only you knew what's waiting for you - a home with a mommy and a daddy who love you, grandparents and great-grandparents and cousins and playmates and McDonald's Happy Meals!
But all they knew was the orphanage. It was squalid, but they had no other reference point. It was home.

The fact of the matter is that many new believers are scared to death at what their new adoptive father has planned for them. No matter how bad their life was - it was their life - and it was home. But now there is a journey into the unknown. A journey where you feel your way around "by faith and not by sight." Now there is a relationship that requires trusting someone other than yourself. A thought so scary that you find yourself reaching out with your arms for your past orphanage life. It is terrifying... and yet God sees it as exciting. God knows the good things he has planned for you. He has such great stuff in store, but He requires trust (faith) to experience it. The thing with God is that the new experiences he wants to take us on NEVER END. Each of them require us to let go of our "safe life" and learn in a fresh way to trust and hold on tight. So some of you need to let go of your crappy life regardless of how "safe" it is, some of you need to get over any failures of the past and gear up for another "adventure," and some of you who are already launching way out on a new journey just need to hold on tight to God. HE IS GOOD, not safe, but GOOD. You can trust Him.

Love loud... risk often... hope always.