I'm Missing One

As Miriam and I have responded to God’s leading and embarked on this journey of adoption, a strange thing has occurred in my mind that quite honestly I wasn’t really expecting.  While out in public I do what many parents do and constantly count my children to make sure all are accounted for.  In the last month there has been several times when I realized I am missing one.  So I count again and realize one is still missing.  As “papa bear” instinct begins to kick in I realize I am counting to five, not four.    I am missing one of my children.  She is not here.  She is not in my sight yet.  My heart and mind have already made her mine, but my eyes have yet to behold her and my arms have yet to wrap her in a loving embrace.  But not for one moment do I consider her less a child of mine than those that are around me already.

            Again, I must admit I was not expecting this.  This did not occur with my other children, perhaps it was because I knew my newest child was always safe in the womb of my beautiful wife.  For me to begin counting to five, instead of four, has made me realize the power of choosing life and love in my own soul. 

            I recently preached a sermon on a passage from Acts 18.  In this passage our Lord Jesus encouraged Paul to stay in the city of Corinth and be a witness to the Good News concerning what Jesus has done for us.  The Lord says this to Paul, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”  The last part, which I have italicized, seems to refer to people who have yet to believe in Christ, but the Lord is sure they will become His own soon.  He has already chosen them as His children and if Paul would just stay and witness to the work of Christ, these people will indeed call on Jesus as Lord and Savior and be brought into the family of God for all eternity. 

            God essentially tells Paul that His family is bigger than it looks.  That God has already chosen to adopt more into His family that we can see right now.  The God of love and grace has more love and grace to give, and He is working to draw them into His arms and make them a part of His family. 

            I think I am just beginning to understand the power of God’s love in this light.  I had already begun loving the babies developing in Miriam’s womb well before they were born, but to begin loving a child as my own on another continent is a new experience for me.  A beautiful experience.  I am missing one of my children.  There is much work I have yet to do, but I will do whatever it takes to make her mine. 

            God is missing some of His children.  He has already done all the work through Jesus to ransom these children and make them a part of His family.  He called Paul, and I believe He calls us, to share this gift of family to those around us so that they too might become children of God and experience the love and joy He has for all who call on His name.  As Paul said to the church in Ephesus, “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:5-6).”