Default To Action

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 unstained by the world."

John 14:18 Jesus says, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

Without our Father, we would be orphans. We walk through this messy world secure because we know His Spirit is with us, and Jesus is coming again. We are secure because the Bible tells us how perfect our Father is and  how deeply we are loved. We are secure because we have a God-given communitas in our church family to walk through the mess together.

James reminds the Church of orphans' distress. They are not secure. We do not talk about the blessing of security often. This is not circumstantial for us as children of God; no matter what mess we step into, God is our rock. We are all called to show orphans the secure love of God.

In my foster care journey, children have asked me these questions:

"Where do I go next?"

"Who is going to take care of me forever?"

"Why didn't they love me?"

"When do I go home?"

Once I stayed the night in temporary housing with three children who had nowhere else to go and had no idea where they were sleeping the next night. Could you imagine being a child without the security of a home or even a caregiver? Yesterday my foster daughter played the “what if game” - What if _________ happens? And we have to talk through every scenario she comes up with, such as, “What if you die? What if I run away? What if we run out of food?” No child should have to play the “what if game”.

Orphans grasp every. single. day. for security! God created children to be born into a family - not to beg for a family. Let us bring Heaven to Earth! I am their family. The church is their family. You are their family.

We all have security in Christ and the call to care for orphans - what is the next step? Pray every. single. day. for orphans. Cry out for God to help them. Ask God how you can help them. Here are some ideas:

• Pray for a specific child in foster care by name, and let that foster parent know you are their prayer warrior.

• Ask your child which of their peers are foster kids (trust me, they know), and insist on inviting that peer over for a family fun night.

• Provide a meal or a fun gift card to a foster family.

• And the biggest one: ask God if you should bring an orphan into your home.

These words of Francis Chan were a guiding light through the unknowns of adopting Emma, and I hope they inspire you too. “Sometimes people are paralyzed by fear of failure. They are so afraid that they might do the wrong thing that they do nothing. We need to learn to err on the side of action, because we tend to default to negligence. So many won’t do anything unless they hear a voice from heaven telling them precisely what to do. Why not default to action until you hear a voice from heaven telling you to wait? For example: Why not assume you should adopt kids unless you hear a voice telling you not to? Wouldn’t that seem more biblical since God has told us that true religion is to care for the widows and orphans?”

Again, why not default to action until you hear a voice from heaven telling you to wait?