Moments and Invitations: The Truth of His Commitment to the Fatherless and Impoverished

Hi friends,

You may remember that September is Compassion International's Blog Month... and today I'm posting my final writing assignment for the month. Our assignment this week is to write a post from the perspective of a sponsored child. They said to us:

"This assignment is about aligning with the heart of children in poverty..... You are a child living in extreme poverty. What do you have to say?"

And as I began to write, I realized how profoundly my heart around matters like these is influenced by our situation with our sweet baby girl who we fostered from birth and had to let go in 2010 at almost 2 years old.

I realized how desperately I need to believe the truth that God really is committed to Fathering her....committed to holding her as she falls asleep on nights when she's afraid....committed to bringing His tangible peace and comfort to her heart....committed to supernaturally revealing Himself to her as her Daddy who fights for her, who protects her, who delights over her.

Oh, how deeply I need to believe He's committed to her, and to the millions of other children living in fatherlessness and/or some level of poverty throughout the world.

That said, here's what I ended up with when I sat down to write from the perspective of a child living in extreme poverty:

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I lie awake tonight. Starry sky above. If I close my ears, I can stare up into those stars and almost forget my surroundings. 8 of us here in this tent, surrounded by thousands of other tent-homes, all of us desperately trying to find comfort, rest, peace...in the midst of a country that has been for years rocked by earthquakes, disease, famine. This is it for us. Nowhere else to go from here.

And it seems there is never enough. Enough food, enough medicine, enough clothes, enough water... enough comfort to begin to mend my broken heart. I've watched them die...so many of those I love...those who loved me. An earthquake here... a bout of malaria there.

I lie here tonight, paralyzed by this horrible fear that clenches cold around my heart. Fear of still more loss... Fear of a future that is the same as my present...or worse. Oh God... is there hope? For me? Do You really see me?

Suddenly, softly, this whispering knock at my heart...

Child... my precious child.

I know this Voice... I've heard it before.

Child, when all hope is lost, I am your Hope.
Though it seems all love has died, I am the Love for your heart, and I am so very alive.
When you ache with loneliness, I am closer to you than your very breath.
When you are gripped with fear, I am your Shelter, holding you close.
I am REAL. I am HERE. I am holding your heart. And I am so fiercely committed to your life.

And it's true....It's really true.... He really is here with me, and He sees me, this God who calls Himself the Father to the fatherless.

He really does wrap my heart in His love and I feel this Peace creeping over me, covering me like a blanket. I can feel it, almost physically. And sleep is coming, finally.

So I rest tonight...secure, held in the arms of the One who is all I need will never let me go.

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Psalm 68:5

A Father to the fatherless, defender of the widows,

is God in His holy dwelling.

Isaiah 43:1-5a

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you....

PS. Compassion's goal for Blog Month is to find sponsors for 3108 children in need. As of this past Friday 2006 new children have been sponsored. This is so great(!!), but there are still over a thousand kiddos who need sponsors if we (Compassion Bloggers) are to reach our goal for this month. Would you prayerfully consider sponsoring a child if you don't already? AND/OR would you jump over here, to Compassion's Child Sponsorship page, and pray over some of the children you see pictured there? Ask God to reveal His heart to them in tangible ways, and to provide for their practical needs as well? There is a unique intimacy with the Father that comes when we are willing to share in His heart for these precious ones.

Great blessings to you all today,