We’re adopting. Boy, it sounds strange to say it and it looks even stranger to type it. I never wanted to adopt. And honestly, I’m still not sure I want to. I have to. I need to. But I’m not sure I’m there yet, the wanting part.It seems so irresponsible of us. Full disclosure? We’re a family of six, I’m the sole bread-winner, and more months than not there is more month than money. Things are tight. And we’re going to stretch our family of six to a family of seven? And another teenager to boot!
Like I said, it’s irresponsible. I admit it.
But the more I thought about this irresponsibility, the more I was convicted and convinced that it is exactly how God wants us to be.
Was it irresponsible for Noah to spend 120 years building a boat when he didn’t even know what rain was? Was it irresponsible for Moses to lead millions of Hebrews into the wilderness when he had no idea how he would feed them or where they were going? Was it irresponsible of Abram to pick up his family and move from their comfortable home to a land he’d never seen?
Was it irresponsible of Joseph to put his pregnant ready-to-go wife in an animal stall for the night? Was it irresponsible of Peter and Andrew to give up a good livelihood as fisherman to follow Jesus with no promise of pay or benefits or even safety?
Time and time again in the Bible we see stories of irresponsibility. Folks doing things that just don’t add up, that don’t fit the mold of what we consider responsible behavior. It seems God specializes in pushing people to do the irresponsible thing.
And should that surprise us?
Too often we get confused about which kingdom we are citizens of. Too often we operate according to the world’s standard of responsibility.
But we must remember, we Christians belong to an upside-down Kingdom. A Kingdom where the weak are strong, the last are first, fools are wise, and the poor are rich. So should it surprise us when God calls us to be irresponsible?
During the course of wrestling with this concept I had to ask myself how many opportunities I’ve missed because I thought they were irresponsible. I wondered (and feared) what others would think or what the repurcussions would be on me or my family. We’re told from the time we’re young to be responsible, to grow into responsible adults, to do the responsible thing. So what happens when God pushes us to do the irresponsible thing? What happens when God points His finger down the foggy road leading out of Ur and says “Go” but fails to give us a map?
Are we doing the responsible thing by bringing another teen into our family? A child whom we really know next to nothing about? The world might say no. Those with their noses in this kingdom might shake their heads and murmur behind closed doors.
But I don’t give two hoots about what this kingdom thinks. I’m in a different kind of Kingdom, operating under a different set of rules where doing the irresponsible thing is actually pretty responsible.
So yeah, we’re adopting. We’re stepping out. We’re blindly traveling this road, waiting for God to guide us with each turn. And we honestly don’t know where we’re going to end up.
Pretty irresponsible, huh?
Can I challenge you with some questions? What irresponsible thing has God been calling you to do? Why are you ignoring Him? When He asks you to step out of the boat and walk on water, will you obey? Will you abandon all sense of what this world’s kingdom thinks is responsible and do the irresponsible thing?
dellossoadoption 