The Father's heart

Things have been quiet around here. The kids and I have nestled down, enjoying rainy days inside together as I nurse a cold. I'm thankful for the quiet time, time for resting, pondering, praying.

Have you ever noticed when something has been drawn to your attention and weighs heavily on your mind it crops up everywhere you look? I've experienced that lately.

I have to confess my annoyance over certain passages in the bible in the past. I'd explain them away or ignore them all together. Perhaps I wasn't mature enough to understand or respond, I should have acknowledged my shortcoming but I argued instead.

One such passage is James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Certainly "look after" doesn't necessarily mean adopt, there are many ways to be involved in caring for the needy. But I'm learning the closer we come to a need, the more we identify with another's brokenness, the more our hearts are changed. 

Instead of arguing I'm learning. I'm learning caring for orphan's isn't a burden, it's a gift. In seeing ourselves as the spiritual orphans we were compassion flows from a grateful heart. I'm learning that the truth of adoption is at the heart of the gospel and is the underlying message of more scripture than I had realized. I'm learning that partnering with Jesus in faith is always better than arguing with him and protecting our own self interest. Scary stuff!

What has God laid on your heart lately? Are you fighting him or joining him? Praise God for his patience and faithfulness as we learn to listen to his voice!