
When I was in college, I had a Christianity professor who everyone seemed to love. His joy was contagious. He taught many classes, but I had him for an Old Testament class. We never seemed to stay on topic in that class, and we never seemed to get through the full discussion he had planned. Nobody really seemed to mind though. Everyone loved going to his class; because, no matter what kind of bad day you might have had leading up to it, after spending time in the class with him, it was a good day.
Our main project for the class was to read through the Old Testament book by book and write a brief summary of what we learned from each book. What made this assignment particularly interesting and impactful for me was that he had one simple question he wanted us to answer - a phrase really.
"The God of the Bible is the God who..."
Over and over and over for 39 books we had to answer the same question. You might think this was a simple task, but to be honest it wasn't. It was something that took a lot of time. We had to read through each book not just to complete it and not just skim through to get a quick answer. We had to take time to reflect, to ask ourselves what aspect of God's character was being revealed. Then beyond that, what were all the ways that this particular character trait of God was shown through out the book.
It was an assignment that was two-fold really.
Read the book and find an overarching theme - a quality of God that was put on display.
Read the book again and look at all the details and make note of how God revealed that part of Himself.
It was an impactful assignment...so much so that I can't help but think that way to this day a lot of the time. We serve the God who _______.
As we go through this adoption process, there is much unknown. We fill out paper work, we gather official documents, we copy, we scan...we do it again. Over and over. And we do it all as we pray for our future child. We don't know what our future holds. When will we be matched? Will we have a son or daughter? How old will they be? What will it be like to get on that plane to travel halfway around the world - to finally bring our child home.
I don't know.
But I know one thing:
We serve the God who knows.
He knew my husband and I would be walking this road when my parents got on that plane 30 years ago this month to fly half across the world to adopt me from Romania.
He knew my husband and I would be walking this road when we first met 10 years ago and were just two young college kids who couldn't stop talking to each other and decided we found the one we should marry.
He knew my husband and I would be walking this road when our son was born 6 years ago and all the life that has happened since.
God knew.
And He has prepared the way, encouraged us, grown us, and provided for us during the entire journey leading up to where we are now and He's going to continue to do so. While we might not know the answers to these questions, God does. What more comfort can be found than knowing that the God who adopts and redeems, the almighty and good God, the God who knows, the God who is over all things... is walking with us day by day giving us exactly what we need to do all that He has called us to do.
So today, if you find yourself in the midst of a journey not knowing all the answers - look up to your Father above, and look back. Take time to reflect on His word, on who He is, and what He has done.
There is great joy, hope, and peace to be found.
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
-Number 6:24-26
Praying alongside your family. A beautiful reminder to Trust God, seek Him in ALL things.