To adopt or not to adopt. There is only one question: ” Is it God’s desire for me, or my family to be a hiding place for a child in need?”
“And here I felt a strange leaping of my heart…. My job was to simply follow His leading one step at a time, holding every decision up to him in prayer.” Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
I am reminded of Corrie ten Boom and her family in the days when the Jews were so severely persecuted by the Nazis. When the Lord was confirming his will to my husband and I regarding adoption, we sat watching The Hiding Place.
If you haven’t seen it, please rent it. It is a riveting film of Corrie ten Boom, and her family’s beautiful self-sacrificing lifestyle, as the Lord used them to save many Jews.
I can hear the words of her sister when asked why she would be involved in such an endeavor, “Truthfully, I’d rather do anything else. I’d like to close the door and never open it again until this whole hideous thing is over, but that’s me. My Lord Jesus tells me to open the door to whatever comes, to give His love in whatever ways I can. And I will listen to His voice, not mine.” Betsie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
Seek His will for your family first. If He is leading you to adopt, He will confirm it in exceedingly abundant ways.
Years ago the Lord began enlarging my heart in ways I didn’t understand at the time concerning adoption. The first time my husband and I had a strange young boy stay with us for the weekend, it completely stressed me way beyond my comfort zone.
Michael felt this troubled boy could benefit by being out of his situation for a few days, and wondered if I would be willing to share our home with him. Have you ever felt the Lord’s stretching?
First, let me back up just a bit.
Before I met my husband, Michael, an amazing man of God in every way, I thought I knew everything about the Lord. Michael had been moved by the Lord to forsake all and follow Him into the field of social work.
He remains today, a man totally sold out to hearing and obeying the Lord’s voice. The Lord began using him to help me see all of the riches of my relationship with the Lord still to be unlocked.
He was already fathering my two precious sons from a previous marriage, and with all of his heart was attempting to be a most perfect father to them. They were suffering greatly from the divorce, and it was terrible to watch.
Let’s get back to the young man I first mentioned. All I kept thinking about was our two older sons, and how much discomfort they would be experiencing. Hadn’t they gone through enough? How could I put them through added trauma? I knew my only choice was to obey the Lord.
To my surprise, it really didn’t seem to bother them very much at all. I learned so much from having this young man stay with us, about his life, and his culture. This experience was such a great blessing, and I believe it was good for our family. I almost missed it because of my silly fears.
After the divorce from a previous marriage, I became a born-again Christian, but I had so much to learn.
The Lord’s ever-present help was my only salvation. His word became my food! The enemy came at me hard, and at that time, I had no clue about the authority Jesus gave us over all of his work.
Therefore, I became the enemy’s victim, and watched him separate me from my two older sons in ways I never could have imagined. It was devastating, and I seriously didn’t think I could make it.
As is always the goodness of the Lord, He took what the enemy meant for evil and used it for my good. He enlarged my heart to adoption, and gently took me step by step into blessings I would have missed if I had closed my heart off, and shut the door on His provision. I was no longer living on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of my God.
“Do you know what hurts so very much? It’s love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.” Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
I am so very thankful to the Lord for giving me another route for that love to travel. His blessings of birth children and adopted children, each are a gift, exceedingly abundantly above all I could ever ask or imagine!
Once you have discovered His will, take the next steps He gives. Be sure you are completely saturated by His Holy Spirit who enables us to do all things.
“Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.” Corrie ten Boom
Counting the cost is a must before you adopt. Going in, you must realize there may be some adjustments you may have to make, and some sacrificing that will be required. Never go in blindly. Ask the Lord to prepare you, and know He is going to make you more than able.
There are no ‘if’s’ in God’s kingdom. His timing is perfect. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety. His will is our hiding place. Let us pray that we may always know it. “Lord Jesus, keep me in Your will. ” Corrie ten Boom
Truthfully, until just recently, I haven’t wanted to share much about my adoption experiences. I love each child so much, and wanted them to be protected. I have been upset when people would ask if they were all my birth children. I have hidden them in a hiding place of sorts. I thought it was for them, but I realized it was mostly for me.
Just like the Jews were eventually able to come out from hiding, I am feeling the Lord tugging at me to share our testimony so others may know the extreme benefits to enjoy through adoption.
Am I trying to say that adoption can be equated with the dangerous, self sacrificial beauty of the ten Boom family, not at all. What I am saying, the need is just as great.
My prayer for you is that you will know His love, know His will, and you will follow His voice. Ask the Lord, “Am I to be a hiding place for a child needing a family?”
Galatians 4:4-6 “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”