God's reminders

Joel works in a big company. I would dare say that 75% of the people he works with do not understand why we are adopting again. Some think it is for the money. (Huh? I really do not get that one..something about a tax break). Some think that our family deserves more, like a bigger house, a new van, more vacations. I could go on and on...They truly do not understand why we choose to do this.

Matthew 6: 19-22, 24

19“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 19Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

24“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money

Joel's explanations of why seem to fall on their deaf ears. He is constantly trying to explain himself and our family. The other day he came home feeling very defeated. I know we understand why we chose to adopt and their opinions really do not matter, but this whole adoption process is really hard even on the best of days. And then when you hear the negativity it makes it really, really tough sometimes.

Yesterday, after a bad day, Joel got in a work vehicle with a co-worker and they got to talking. His co-worker began to remind him that the negativity is just "noise". He reminded Joel of Peter and his faith to walk on water, but when Peter saw the wind he became afraid and began to sink.

 Matthew 14:25-31

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”  

I do not know about you, but I certainly have never walked on water. Jesus told Peter to "come" and Peter did the impossible - he walked on water. But, when Peter saw the wind he began to doubt and then began to sink. The wind was Peter's "noise". It caused him to take his focus off of Jesus and what he was told to do.

 Joel's co-worker reminded him, we are like Peter. God has asked us to journey to China. God is doing the impossible, especially financially (more on that later). We cannot allow the "noise" to cause us to lose our focus otherwise we will sink. Satan wants nothing more than for us to hear "noise". He wants us distracted. He wants our eyes off of God.

I am so thankful that even on our bad days, when all we hear is "noise", God reaches out His hand to pull us up, He saves us. I am so thankful that God knows when we need encouragement. He is so very faithful to us. I am so thankful that he used Joel's co-worker to bless us. On that day God reached out His hand to Joel and pulled him up. He reminded him that we are not alone, we are safe in with Him.