The Bible Speaks Of Adoption

     Not everyone adopts children, of course, and even fewer adopt children with disabilities. It's not for everyone. What would our present society be like without pipe line fitters, scientists, farmers, or surgeons! We all need each other's gifts. Everyone is different, and interested in different things. God made us that way. The Bible is certainly big enough to have a message for everyone. That's how God speaks to His own, through verses that He sends straight to their spirits. The multitude of verses that have struck deep into my spirit, have played an important part in my life.

     Adoption has always been a part of the human experience. There can be no doubt of this, because the Bible uses the word to explain how by becoming a Christian, we become, by adoption, children of God.

     The Bible has stories of children who were taken in to be loved and raised by other families, as their own child.

     Mordecai adopted an orphan he named Esther, as his own child. He loved her, raised her carefully, and she was a good and obedient daughter even into adulthood. (Esther 2:7 on)

     Moses was put into a basket in the river among bullrushes by his mother, in hopes of saving his life, after the king decreed that all baby boys be killed. Well, Moses was adopted by the daughter of the wicked king who made the law. He loved his own daughter so much, he could not deny her the tiny baby she found in a basket in the river, among the bullrushes. He did not know that he had killed all the other babies, just to be certain he got rid of this one! He did not know that the little girl his daughter asked, to find a wet nurse for the baby, was the baby's sister, and the wet nurse was his own mother! God had a big plan here.

     Samuel was born to a mother who had prayed in anguish for a very long time, for a baby. At last she promised God that if He gave her a baby, she would bring the baby to the temple, and give it back to God. She kept her promise, and brought little Samuel to the priest Eli, in deep gratitude for the privilege of having become a mother; for having at last, the desire of her heart.

     God has had some intricate plans in the lives of some of my children as well. I am absolutely certain, that at their conception, they were meant to become my own children. But in God's plan, they had other lives to go through first. When I found my children, I felt a great surge of joy each time, for I had found my child, whom I had been waiting for, all his or her life!

     The Bible says a lot about children who have no fathers, and who are disabled. It is clear that we are to help them, defend them, and protect them. These verses have always spoken to my heart.

      * * * Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Psalm 82:3

      * * * The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless... Psalm 146:9

      * * * I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame... Job 29:12,15

     To my heart, these verses spoke of bringing these children in to my family, and making them my own children. This next verse even speaks to me of our home in the beautiful mountains!

      * * * The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing...they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come. Isaiah 35:1,2a-4a

      * * * A father of the fatherless... is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families.. Psalm 68:5a,6a

      * * * For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for ... behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame ... Jeremiah 31:7

     This could be the story of my family! For God certainly brought them all home to me. Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow!

© 2004 Rosemary Gwaltney