This is the article by my friend Stephanie Tait (in the process of adopting from China). Be prepared to have your heart tugged on!
-Lori :)
January 29, 2006
When our family made the decision to adopt a little girl from China, we were not prepared for the spiritual battle that would ensue. I can remember the day we filled out our agency’s application. When I went to sign on the line, I was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of fear and inadequacy. Every parenting failure I’ve ever had flooded into my mind and I was terrified. I knew that I certainly would not pass “the test” and be approved, and was instantly convinced that I would be humiliated and come away from this endeavor empty handed. In that moment everything I knew about the number of precious children lying in cribs with no family and no hope for their future left me, and I was suddenly engaged in a battle of the mind.
Each step of the way, the enemy continued to launch his attacks against me in the form of accusations and fear. As I drew close to my Father I would hear Him whisper that He was the One blazing the path from us to our little girl, and that I only had to fix my eyes on Him and hold tightly to Him as He forged the way. As I hid myself in the Lord, I was able to walk through the process despite repeated attacks from the enemy.
As we have continued in this process, the Lord has shown us that adoption is a spiritual battle. I believe that the enemy uses many kinds of different assaults in his endeavor to prevent adoption. Certainly, the issue of finances comes into play here. I cannot begin to recount the number of people who have confided to us that adoption is something they have considered or even longed to do – except for the fact that it is so expensive. And I must admit, we went into our adoption not having any idea where the money would come from. The cost of adoption is monumental, and the enemy has that in his favor. Countless numbers of couples have not pursued the idea for more than a few minutes simply because of the cost alone – an easy victory for the enemy… and an even greater loss for the children.
There are other tactics the enemy uses to convince people not to adopt. He is an expert at custom-tailoring the tactics to our personal fears.
But why?
Why is adoption such a spiritual battle? I had to ask the Lord. Of course I felt like I knew part of the answer without even asking. What I knew was that adoption is God’s idea, and that it is a spiritual concept. When I asked the Lord why it had to be so hard – why it costs so much and why it takes so long, He answered me directly:
“It was hard for me too, heart-breaking, in fact. But it was worth it. You were worth it to me. And I am still waiting. I know how hard the waiting is, but don’t give up. She is worth waiting for, just like you were. And I am in the waiting with you. I know you cannot understand. Only trust me, for I have proven myself faithful to you.”
For the first time, I began to understand that God Himself paid the highest price for my adoption – His own Son. And then He waited for me – and He is still waiting for so many. I understood more clearly the direct link that adoption is to the Father’s heart. Adoption is His way of bringing us back to Himself.
“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a Spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” Romans 8:15
I also knew that Jesus Himself had been adopted by Joseph and had seen the significance of the fact that God’s promise of a Savior through the bloodline of David had been accomplished through adoption, as it was Joseph – not Mary – who was David’s descendant.
However, as I have struggled through this process, I have been compelled to dig deeper. I have sensed that there was more – more to this spiritual battle than what I could already see. So I began again, asking the Lord, “Why? What, Lord, are the other reasons why Satan hates adoption so much?”
The Lord answered me by showing me this vision. I was above the earth looking down at the nations. The Lord showed me Africa, India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, China, South America………I could see row upon row upon row of children - babies, toddlers, young children and teens, all the orphans of the world. Hovering over them was a thick cloud of oppression. Spirits of death, sickness, poverty, loneliness and hopelessness surrounded them. God said, “They are the unseen and the unheard.”
Then before my eyes I saw these children – millions of them – become adults. And what I saw was that the enemy had raised up his own army of darkness – millions of children that grew up under the clouds of death and hopelessness and became adults – millions of adults – that belonged to the enemy.
But then the Lord said to me:
IT IS NOT THE WILL OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN THAT ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES PERISH – NOR WILL IT BE. My people can change this – and not only can they change it – they must. My people must rally together and go in and ransom this generation from the clutches of the enemy. My people today must rescue this generation of children, for I am preparing for battle, and these are mine. I have a call on each of these lives and I will that not one be lost. My people today must get up and go – Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless – rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. For I have not despised or disdained the suffering of these afflicted ones; I have not hidden my face from them, but have listened to their cry for help. These are MINE. Go, Church, and get them out. Take in hope and healing and life, and bring these little ones out, for they are Mine and they have been born into this generation for My purpose.
Then I remembered Psalm 72:12 – 14. “For He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in His sight.”
And then, Proverbs 23:10. “Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their defender is strong; He will take up their case against you.”
And then, Psalm 68:5-6. “A father to the fatherless, defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, He leads forth the prisoners with singing…”
Adoption was God’s idea. The only way for us to be with Him is through the miracle of adoption. There are millions of children whose lives are hanging in the balance. God is clearly their Father and their Strong Defender. He created each one for a purpose in this generation. He is raising up an army – and these children belong there. It is His will that NOT ONE of them perish. He is clearly their deliverer, but we – our generation – is clearly called by God to go and ransom these children from the clutches of the enemy through His power and provision.
As His body, we are called to this common purpose. Will we answer that call? Will we come together as His body in this and be willing to ask God, “What should I do?” And will we be willing to obey and trust in His provision for the resources – emotional, physical and financial – to do the thing He asks of us?
When I asked the Lord, “What else?”, He said, “Tell them I am going to win, and they do not want to miss this one.”
