Why "Waiting for a Sign" is Hogwash

I was reading a friends' blog the other day and she nailed something I've been wanting to write about again for a while. With this whole fostering process we've gotten a lot of interesting remarks, especially since we started.

Some have questioned if we can "have any more of our own" (as far as we know, yes)

Some have questioned if "this is the right time because our boys are so young and still needy" (yes, but so are these kids that have nowhere else to go. We want our boys to grow up knowing this is what the Lord calls us to do, so we do it, as inconvenient or difficult or strange as it might seem to others)

Some have wondered why "we would take more than one...now we have 4 under age 4, isn't that insane?" (yes, it is. But it felt right and has been extremely difficult yet immensely rewarding)

Some have asked if "we will do this forever or just for a season", and in that case "why do it now, why not wait until your boys are older?" (Because the world does not revolve around them. Yes, we have to take into account what is best for them, but at the end of the day God's calling trumps my kids' desire not to share his room or toys)

I could go on and on. Then there's also the famous statement "I COULD NEVER DO THAT!" (Remember, I talked about in a previous post how I used to say the exact same thing!! Be careful what you say! HA!) And here's where that kind of gets me. Please know I'm speaking from experience, having been at that exact same state of mind. The post (linked above) that I wrote was before we had even officially received our license. Not that our opinions have changed since then, but I now have more of a "leg" to stand on! 

Many times we sit and think, "Well, God, if you want me to do *x y z*, then I need you to really speak to me and give me a clear sign." While that may be appropriate for college choices or job decisions, I do not believe it applies here. Read what my friend Hannah wrote about her experience in preparing for a Missions Trip and her struggle with this very issue:

Prior to this trip, I had been praying to the Lord if I should go on this mission trip. I kept on telling my husband yes, but still praying on the side if this is really what God wanted me to do. I never did get a “feeling” or a sign that I should go, instead I just chose to stand firm and have faith on the word that Jesus gave, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19) and also, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”(Acts 1:8). You see, there’s this term I’ve learned in Christian culture about “feeling lead” to do something or go somewhere, ‘because I have a heart for these people, this city, this country, this place so I will help’… But I do not recall anywhere in Scripture that justifies with these statements. Instead I used these statements to justify my flesh, or lack thereof of just simply DOING what God has commanded:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”- Matthew 22:39
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?“- 1 John 3:16-17
“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.“- Isaiah 1:17
” for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me’.”- Matthew 25:42-45

I went home that night in awe, and then awoke the very next morning repenting and crying before the Lord. I can’t explain how my heart just felt broken inside. I curled up into a ball on the bed simply just crying. He showed me that He didn’t call me to love places, He didn’t call me to feel comfortable, He called me to love people. He calls His children to love people. We shouldn’t wait to get a “feeling or sign” from God to love people, we simply just go and do it! We shouldn’t wait to get a “feeling or sign” from God to make disciples of all nations, to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth, we simply just go and do it! Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” -(John 14:15). So let’s read His Word first and simply follow what it says. Through this the Lord will clearly show you His will for you, and will close or make a way for you to pursue it, just like He has done for Paul many times in the Bible. Let’s not sit and wait around, let’s be proactive in our faith!  I dare you to be so brave to follow the Lord wherever He takes you, through the leading of His Holy Word and Holy Spirit!  Better a YES to the Lord, than no action at all.


WOW! She nailed it. We so often WAIT for God to "show" or "tell" us something that he's already been so very clear about in Scripture. In James 1:27 it says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress." This is simply ONE of the MANY scriptures that look at orphans and makes it clear that this is our calling. 

I'm SO thankful that adoption has somewhat come out of the "you only adopt if you can't have your own kids" rut. I mean, there are still people who think that way, but there's been a large movement towards adoption becoming much more normal and wide-spread. I pray the same happens for foster care. There is SUCH a need for good, stable, healthy, CHRISTIAN foster homes!! And while I'm not saying that the Bible says every Christian should be a foster parent, the Bible IS clear - we all should be doing SOMETHING. 

Please pray about what God is trying to say to you through these verses. There are tons of ways to help even if you feel that in this particular life stage, fostering or adopting isn't for you and your family. There are so many areas to volunteer, host a diaper drive, clothing drive, go help a group home with an event, tutor some foster kids who are having trouble in school.....the list goes on and on. Most of all? PRAY. Pray for the kids who have been removed from their families. Even if it's a negative situation they are escaping, they are mourning that loss. Pray for the biological parents and families to either complete their case plan and become better caregivers, or realize that they are beyond help and do what is best for their child(ren) and allow them to have a healthy forever home with someone else. Pray for the foster parents who only take in shelter kids for the short term. Pray for the foster parents who take kids long-term and then have those kids reunified with their parents. I cannot even imagine the physical and emotional pain this can cause. It's truly a bittersweet thing. Pray for foster families all across our county and state, and our whole nation. This is a tough gig.....and we're dealing with a government entity that supports biology over nurture most of the time. 
Pray that everyone will keep these children's best interest in mind and make decisions accordingly.
Thank you!!!



Read Hannah's entire blog post here. And read her other posts, too. She's very transparent and really, really loves the Lord! :)