TO CHEW ON: "When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me." Psalm 27:10
"Abandoned on a street corner by his mother at the age of 12, Pastor Bill (Wilson) sat and waited for her at that corner for 3 days. She never came back. A Christian layman who was on his way to see his son in the hospital stopped and picked him up. Anybody could have stopped, but it was the Christian man who stopped. After getting him a hot meal, this gentleman paid for Pastor Bill to attend a Sunday School camp, where he gave his life to Christ. This was the start of his incredible walk with God – one that would change thousands of lives..." - Bill Wilson, founder of the Metro World Child organization, a Christian, non-profit organization dedicated to serving inner-city children throughout New York City and various urban centers around the world.
The love and care of one's parents is pretty well a given. We view it to be foundational to growing up as normal, healthy adults. The belief that kids need their parents is behind the current outrage over the children of people crossing the Mexican US border being separated from their parents. Parents are being jailed for crossing the border illegally while the kids are kept in children's centers while their parents' fate is decided ("Separation of parents, kids at US Mexican border" - CBC news)
How many stories haven't we heard of messed up adults whose problems are attributed to being neglected or abandoned as kids? Does our focus verse today mean that God can counteract such a basic lack in one's life?
I believe it does. Look at the stories of noteworthy Bible characters torn from parental care and love: Joseph, Daniel, Esther, the little Jewish maid of Naaman's wife.
Look at God's heart toward the abandoned as it comes out in other scripture passages:
Exodus 22:22-23:
“You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry"
Deuteronomy 10:18
"He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing."
Psalm 10:14
"But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless commits himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless."
Psalm 68:5
"A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation."
Psalm 146:9
"The LORD watches over the stranger
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down."
Proverbs 15:25
"The LORD will destroy the house of the proud,
But He will establish the boundary of the widow."
Jeremiah 49:11
"Leave your fatherless children,
I will preserve them alive; And let your widows trust in Me.”
Malachi 3:5
"And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against ... those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the LORD of hosts."
If you have been abandoned, remember that God is for you. He promises to take care of you. He will fill in the physical and emotional holes that your experiences have caused. You can say with confidence:
"When my mother and father (or my spouse, or my children) forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me."
PRAYER: Dear God thank You that You are for the abandoned, neglected, forgotten, bereaved, and passed-over ones. Help me, as Your child, to inherit Your heart of compassion, concern and care for them. Amen.
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 27
MORE: Covenant House
Covenant House is an organization that houses and takes care of homeless and abandoned youth in cities around North America.
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Very timely, thank you.
ReplyDeleteGood! :)
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