Finding My Way Home: A Journey to Discover Hope and a Life of PurposeSample

Who You Are in Christ

What does the word “adoption” mean to you?

My daughter’s best friend was adopted from China at the age of three, and it’s impacted me to watch her journey from a little girl until now, especially because she has a loving, caring family. It’s powerful when an orphan finds a home.

If you’ve seen adoption in action, you know it’s a process, and each instance will play out differently. There are challenges with the blending of two backgrounds. Similar to marriage, there are some learning curves to making a family.

God’s family operates the same way. Regardless of your background and upbringing, He welcomes you. Although God is perfect, His family isn’t. We’re all imperfect people on a journey to wholeness. It can be messy yet wonderful along the way.

The miracle is we are accepted just as we are. Our rightful place relies on our unfailing God, not on anything we can do to please Him. Our culture teaches us to climb the upward ladder, aim to be the leader, and strive for success. However, the Bible says God adopts us, regardless of how “good” we are. Period. In light of this, surrender is the source of our absolute rest and completion.

What happens when a child is adopted? He is brought into the family and welcomed at the table. She has a place to lay her head and food to eat. With God as our Father, we gain rights to an inheritance. We have full access to all that He is and all that He has. Our God goes before us, behind us, and surrounds us on every side. We are never alone, never abandoned, never turned away.

See, long before I was the CEO of my companies, I was a child of God. I am also a husband, father, son, and friend. God is teaching me by revealing Himself through His Word. He has been teaching me all my life by bringing loving, generous, and forgiving people to me. Knowing my identity as God’s child has been a game-changer for me in every aspect of my life.

Think about your identity as a child of God. How does this reality alter your perspective on what is ahead of you today?