// those who turn back the battle at the gate //
Oh, this is foster families and adoptive families! Standing in the gap for vulnerable children.
Protecting. Blocking. Pushing back the battle at the weakest spot in the wall: the gate.
Lately, my heart is standing with so many friends who are in the middle of horrible yet hopeful battle stories. It’s a scary place to be: running straight into the fighting. Who are the crazy people who choose to do this? Jesus’ people, that’s who. I see our wonderful Source giving them strength at every turn. I see a great braveness rising up that says: “Let’s do this,” even when it’s crazy.
My heart is also heavy and weary with our own battle. Sometimes foster care looks like active fighting, and sometimes it just looks like endless waiting. (I’m just a mom who waits.). A struggle of endurance and patience. Sometimes adoption looks like beauty, and sometimes it looks like a heap of ashes. Hope sometimes appears to be–feels like it is surely–lost.
// He is the Source of strength //
We make a choice to obey, to answer the call, to care for the vulnerable. There we are: standing at the gate. We ran there with great hope and joy and commitment. Then the battle hit full force. It’s not a proven fact, but I think perhaps the fighting is fiercest where children are concerned. Always and forever, we must remind ourselves God is THE Source of strength when (not if) it gets tough.
We don’t stand on our own strength.
We don’t fight for our own agendas.
We don’t struggle for our own victory.
He calls; He sustains; He wins.
So, let’s run to the battle at the gate.
Little lives and souls are at stake.
