It's In The Waiting

In our hurry-it-up, gotta-get-it-done, fast-moving world, waiting is the last thing we want to do.  No one likes to wait.  We want things when we want them, and we often display little patience when things fail to happen according to our timetables.

Frustratingly enough, waiting is a big part of the adoption world. Adoptive families hurry to fill out dozens of forms and rush here and there to get them all approved; but after they're all done, they sit and wait. And wait. And wait some more. And just when they think that they should be finished with all of the waiting, they find out that they must wait even longer than they thought.

And then adoptive families are forced to drop to their knees, beseeching God to help them move the mountains that stand in the way of getting their precious treasures home where they belong.
Rare is the adoption that moves at a brisk pace from beginning to end. The vast majority of them plod along at a nail-biting snail's pace.

But it is often in the waiting that God does His greatest work.

And for some reason, those adoptions that are especially hard-- those that drag on for a ridiculous amount of time, or that seem to encounter obstacles at every turn-- are the very ones that demonstrate how the mighty hand of God is at work. Those are the ones that show how God is not only rescuing Lost children, but also breaking down barriers and strongholds so that He can shine His light in the dark places where societies hide their unwanted children.

We have seen this not only in our adoption, but in several others as well.

We are seeing it again this week, with some friends who are trying to bring two children home from a country in Africa.  They are encountering an endless number of roadblocks; yet as they round each corner, they are seeing God's mighty hand moving in ways that go far beyond what they have imagined.  It is in their waiting that God is doing a marvelous work.  It is in their waiting and praying and crying out that God is answering prayers-- not only theirs, but also those of many others who desperately need HIM.

It is in their waiting that they are seeing that God is doing a NEW THING in the hearts and minds of the people in the village where their children were born.  It is in their waiting and praying and crying out that they are seeing God's true desire, which is for everyone in that village to know HIM.  It is in their waiting that they receive the pleasure of seeing God drawing hearts towards Him.  It is in the waiting.

To God, adoption  is more than just bringing children into families.  It is also redemption.  It is also relationship.  And it is in the waiting that God often does His greatest work.