Reimagining Pro-Life: 30 Days With Save the StorksVoorbeeld

HEART // 

Four times in Psalm 68, we are called to worship God. Inwardly, our hearts should rejoice in Him. Outwardly, our lives should sing His praises. What reasons does this particular passage give us to rejoice and sing? God is the Father to orphans; the Defender of vulnerable women; the relational Refuge for lonely individuals; the Liberator of prisoners. Every human soul needs this Father, this Defender, this Refuge, this Liberator. Worship is the most natural reaction to the reality of who God is and how He loves us.

We, as His children, know the wonders of being a part of His family. And so we rejoice, and so we sing, and so we praise — worshipping so unashamedly that His glorious presence would be made known to every soul in every nation on earth! Every single person needs to be spiritually adopted by God. 

One way for us to make God’s truth known is through a willingness to consider adopting a child or supporting those who do. The more open we are to adoption, the more we encourage abortion-minded women to make life-affirming choices. The more open we are to adoption, the more we provide hope for both children and women. The more we champion adoption, the more we mirror the way that God lovingly took us in. 

In short, to adopt a child in desperate need of a family is to worship.

Shara is a friend of Save the Storks. She shares her adoption story, which begins with friends adopting children from Africa and Asia, and her grandparents adopting two children out of the foster care system. She explains, "For us adoption was a matter of when God would call us, not if."

"What we weren’t expecting was the very specific calling of adopting a daughter, from an Asian country, with Down Syndrome. Our daughter’s opportunities were very limited by her diagnosis in her home country. One of our guides asked us if she would be allowed to go to school in America. Confused, we said “yes!” We explained that she would eventually be able to work and live on her own too. Since she’s been with us she has thrived. She had major surgery to correct what could have become a paralyzing spinal issue, she’s gotten hearing aids and glasses. God knew what she would need to have the best opportunities. She needed a family who was called to see past her disability and saw her possibilities!"

So as you worship, whether it’s in your quiet time, at church, or as you drive around today, “sing in praise of His name” like today’s verse reminds us to do. Remember the lives that the Lord sees and saves every day, all over the world. It is such an honor to sing and pray the truth about who God is. He is a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, He cares about the lonely and imprisoned. It’s an amazing reality! And it is also such an honor to live out that truth, learning to jump into this stream of redemption with our Father, caring for the most vulnerable in our world.

// WORK

Check out this video of Ahna Cameron, Kirk and Chelsea Cameron’s daughter, sharing about being adopted by a loving family. As she beautifully articulates her personal experience of Isaiah 68:6, she reminds us, “You can create something good out of a crazy, sometimes horrific situation… It’s your choice to choose the good.” 

 

As children of God, we all have something to offer to this world. We offer hope in Christ! Together as the Body of Christ, our resources really are abundant, and one tangible way that we can extend their reach far and wide is by considering adoption. Spend some time asking God if it is His will for you to worship Him through adoption. 

If you know adoption isn’t God’s plan for you, consider finding and supporting adoptive families in your community! God invites us to be His hands and feet. There are so many ways to do this! Financially supporting adoptions; providing meals, gifts, or childcare for foster parents; looking for organizations that support adoptive parents on a larger scale. . . . Collectively, we have all of the resources we need to care for every orphaned child.