A Forever Home in God

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Eph. 1:5, NLT).

A sister was sharing with me recently about a friend of hers who became a foster mom. Let’s call the foster mom Joanna for the sake of this devo. “Overnight, she went from a single woman living alone, to a mother of three,” this friend described.

There was an incredible amount of challenge involved in this transition. These children were siblings aged four, five, and six. Their father was in prison and their mother was strung out on drugs. As you can imagine, they came into Joanna’s home laden with emotional difficulties. They fought with each other constantly. She had to watch over them with unceasing vigilance to keep them from destroying things in her house.

Aside from their initial destructive behavior, they came to her with all kinds of emotional walls up around their hearts. The oldest had been used to carrying the weight of making sure the younger two ate each day. It took a long, patience-testing process for his heart to catch up with the truth that he didn’t need to carry that burden any more. Joanna made sure to give him food at the drop of a hat if he asked for it, to reinforce to his soul the message that he and his siblings would always have what they need… and she would provide it, not he.

At this point, Joanna has reached the point in time where the state will likely soon offer her the option of adopting the children. Their parents have not met the requirements demonstrating an ability to provide safety for their little ones. Joanna is looking at the very real possibility of becoming their forever mom.

Her friend told me about all of this and then added, “This journey has been incredibly hard. It took the longest time to get through wall after wall after wall up around their hearts, to help them.” As she spoke those words, Holy Spirit pointed out to me how similar Joanna’s process with these children is to His process with us.

We have been adopted into His family. This does not mean an automatic “happily ever after.” So many of us come into His household with walls and defense mechanisms built up over the years. It takes His long, persistent commitment to love us into heart wholeness… to get us to where we need to be.

We have to learn that it’s not our job to carry the weight of our own wellbeing. Little by little, we come to know Him as Jehovah Jireh, our gentle Provider. We come to understand in the depths of our souls that there will always be provision for what we need. We come to know Him as Abba Father. Little by little by little by little, our hearts learn to rest in His unconditional, unchanging love.

The same evening Joanna’s friend told me all about her fostering experiences, Holy Spirit brought home this parallel to me. Less than an hour after that conversation, I opened up a book I had been reading months ago and had set aside. My eyes got wider when I saw these words near the beginning of the chapter following where I had left off:

“The Lord knew that it would take time for me to grasp the fullness… The fact that He loves me just as He loves His Son laid the foundation that forever altered my understanding of my relationship with Him. He encouraged me continually, and I started to relax in sonship and trust.”*

Learning to relax into our place as His sons and daughters… isn’t that a perfect description of our process? Day by day by day, His love seals up the cracks in our souls. The more we really get to know who He is, our defensive walls melt away. Often this process is ever so gradual. But our heavenly Daddy is incredibly patient in His unshakable commitment to us. He continues to love on us unconditionally until we really and truly learn that we are safe with Him. He is our forever home, and He will never, ever let us go.

The passage I was reading in this book continued from there. The author went on to share that God communicated the following message to him. It transformed his life when it got into the core of him. This is for you, too, dear one… today and always:

“You are My child forever, and I will aways love you fully. There is nothing you can do to increase or diminish My father love for you.”

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You are safe in the love of God, dear one. What are your thoughts about that?

* Banov, Georgian, Joy!: God’s Secret Weapon for Every Believer, pp. 66-67