uncertainty

I haven't said much about our adoption plans lately and that's for a good reason.

We have no idea what's going to happen.

When Putin signed the bill banning adoptions by parents of the United States last week, the world was rather stunned. What this actually means is still up in the air, though. Technically, there should be a transition--something like a grace period--so we're hoping that we can get grandfathered in to whatever shakes out politically.

This has been quite stressful, but following God's will isn't always easy. A pastor posted something interesting on Facebook a couple of weeks ago: 

‎"Though my natural instinct is to wish for a life free from pain, trouble, and adversity, I am learning to welcome anything that makes me conscious of my need for Him. If prayer is birthed out of desperation, then anything that makes me desperate for God is a blessing… Puritan pastor William Gurnall makes this point in his writings, 'The hungry man needs no help to teach him how to beg'.” Nancy Leigh DeMoss 

Last night at Crossroads we began Genesis 12 and the study of Abraham. Immediately after Abraham obeyed God, stepped out on faith, left everything to move to the Promised Land -- he faced a famine. I pointed out that all of us will face suffering as part of the human condition and we must have a grounded theology of suffering. The time to develop your theology of suffering is before, not during the suffering. Amazingly, God was gracious with Abraham in that he fled to Egypt instead of trusting God and God protected him and Sarah, and blessed him in spite of his lack of trusting God. What a gracious God we serve!*

And for God to be glorified, it seems that things need to get a bit bleak. After Abraham comes Joseph and then after that Moses. 

I don't want to try to speculate about what He's doing right now, as we may never know, but He is in control and we can't walk away because the going got tough.



*Scott Carson, Grace Church in Burlington, WI