Two Realities.

The silver lining in this adoption waiting game is that the Lord is teaching me more about Himself and about who He is calling me to be.

I think about the little boy on the other side of the world. The one who, through no fault of his own, is an abandoned orphan. Sitting day after day in an orphanage. Waiting. This is his reality....waiting and waiting. Every. Single. Day.

And yet, I know another reality. He is a CHERISHED SON. Right now. He may be sitting in a orphanage, but he is LOVED beyond his wildest dreams. How could you explain to him what it's going to be like - a ride on an airplane, those moving sidewalks at the airport, a home, a family, swimming pools, Thanksgiving dinner, birthday parties, amusement parks, education, the trampoline, the untold opportunities in his future? He can't see it and he can't understand it, and yet it is REAL. So real. You and I know how real those things are.

During the wait, there are these two VERY REAL realities- the circumstances that surround him and the promises that he can't yet see.

God showed me we have two realities, too. There are the circumstances that surround us - pain, grief, sin, to-do lists, mistakes, injustice, and mundane days - and there are the promises of our Father that our eyes can't see but that are REAL. So real. Because we are His CHERISHED children. He has for us "glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)

Listen to some of these promises:

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." 1 John 5:11

'And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.' 2 Corinthians 3:18

"When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13-14

"When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
Colossians 3:4

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. Revelation 21:1-7

I don't know about you, but I want to spend less time this year focusing on my circumstances and a whole lot more time focusing on that which my eyes can't see, yet is so REAL.