1 John 3:1 (MSG) – “What marvellous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are.”
I’m speaking to regular church-goers who have attended church since before you can remember. Perhaps you have said the ‘Sinner’s Prayer” at some point in your life. After going through Confirmation classes or membership classes, you are an official member of your church. You serve your local church by volunteering, ushering, and participating in fund-raising activities. You place money on the offering plate every week as it passes by.
I am talking to those of you who fit the above categories, yet you still feel disengaged. You chastise yourself as your mind wanders. Under the guise of reading your Bible app, You sneak on social media during the service. You feel that you don’t measure up to the people sitting next to you in the pew. They seem to catch everything the pastor is saying. Why can’t you?
You’ve tried so hard to follow all the rules and guidelines you think all Christians must do. But if you were honest with yourself, you’d admit that you feel like an orphan.
You wonder why everyone else seems to have an inside track with God. What are you doing wrong? What are you missing?
I feel the Lord saying to you – yes, you! “My burden is light; My yoke is easy.” He knows how weary you are, and He feels your heart. Your heavenly Father knows the shame you feel about the distance between your heart and His. His finger is gently under your chin, lifting your face so that you can look into His eyes. “It’s not about the doing, although your heart to serve is precious to me. It’s about the being, being my child first of all. I sent my Son to die for you so I could adopt you as My own. I didn’t adopt you so that you could serve me. I didn’t hire you as a helping hand.”
“I adopted you so I could be your Father, and you could be My child, I long for the day when you let down your guard and relax in My arms. You are no longer an orphan, and I call you My own. I long for the day you trust me as a Good Father who has only the best intentions toward you. I am not here to judge you; I am here to love you, to dialogue with you and to be intimately involved with your everyday life. I am waiting for your permission to draw closer. But, I am a good Father who would never force myself on My children. I respect your space; I wait for your invitation.”
He’s waiting for you to invite Him into your life as Father, not just a Cosmic Caregiver.
My dear readers, my dear friends, invite Him to draw closer and into the ugly parts of your heart. Invite Him into your questions, disappointments, mind wanderings, shopping lists, insecurities, confusion, and even your lack of understanding of Bible passages. Invite Holy Spirit to wash over you. He will breathe His breath into your spirit, awakening it. If you ask Holy Spirit, He will heighten your awareness of His presence. You will learn to recognize His voice. He will reassure your heart that He does not see you as an orphan. You are his beloved child, and he longs to show you how to live in that identity.
A few years back, I read the following quote spoken by a pastor who had just welcomed an adopted son from a foreign nation into his family. His son grew up in an orphanage and had no concept of what it meant to be a son. Mark and his wife wanted to nurture, protect, and guide their son. Their hearts desired to be intimately involved with his everyday life. Mark didn’t want just to be his son’s caregiver and provider. He wanted so much more. Mark began guiding his son to move past his former identity as an orphan and into his forever role as a beloved son.
“This is exactly what God has done for us. He could have just forgiven us and saved us, but God wanted to go a step further. He wanted the unwanted. He chose us when no one else did, so that whenever we were ready, we could call Him Father.” – Mark Lee.
My fellow Christians, we are not orphans in the Father’s House. It’s time to accept our identity as His beloved children and heirs.
Are you ready to call Him Father? There are no orphans around the family table in the house of God. Is it time to accept that you are a beloved son or daughter? If so, close your eyes and, in your own words, invite Father God to draw near. Invite Holy Spirit to fill you with His comfort, strength, and power and ask Jesus to show you how satisfying a loving family can be.
I encourage you to go through the Gospels and note how Father and Son interacted with each other. Learn from your Big Brother’s example! He depended wholly on His Father’s counsel. He did nothing without consulting Father God.
Galatians 4:5-7 (MSG) – “You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.”
Disclosure: This blog was originally written in 2016, however, I heavily revised this blog in June 2022.
All Bible verses, unless otherwise attributed, are taken from NASB 1995 Version.
Until next week,
©2022 Katherine Walden