11th
HAVING YOUR CAKE AND EATING IT TOO
I would say that most people learn best by experiencing things first hand, rather than by reading them in a book or by having someone else relay the information, but there are some challenges that are difficult to be undertaken, for various reasons. Take skydiving, for example. Besides the technical training it would require to accomplish a successful dive, the fear of falling to my death could keep me from attempting a jump, no matter how glorious the freefall might be. However, if I were to tandem skydive, strapped onto the harness of a seasoned professional, I would be able to understand the process and enjoy the adventure of a lifetime.
When I met Marilyn in the early 1980’s, I never guessed I would learn one of the most important things possible about God’s love for me. No one would ever guess. She was an unassuming young mother of three painfully shy boys that showed up in our Sunday school class one day. I liked her from the beginning, because she was genuine, caring and generous, freely giving her time and talents to various projects at the church.
Marilyn and I were a lot alike, in that we both loved God and our families. We attended a Bible believing assembly that taught what it meant to be a ‘born-again’ child of God. It was an exciting time of learning about our secure place in His family, and Marilyn and I discovered that we were actually sisters, made in God’s image.
As time went by, we became close friends as well, and I eventually learned that Marilyn was adopted. I had a cousin that was adopted as a baby, but Marilyn was my first adopted friend. I had always wondered what that might be like, and since she didn’t mind talking about it, I asked her numerous questions. There are many people who feel badly about themselves, as if they are second-class citizens in the family, because they were formerly orphaned, but Marilyn’s attitude was so refreshing. She said she felt specially selected and treasured. Her parents gave her a distinct and reserved place in their household that could not be taken by anyone else. Consequently, she carried herself with an air of self-reliance. Marilyn was not easily shaken, as she was firmly rooted in her identity and was convinced she was loved.
Being adopted like Marilyn, is something I can never experience, of course, but I can, like most people, relate to feelings of abandonment on some level. However, because of the perspective of my friend, I have come to comprehend that when the Bible says that as a child of God I cry out to Him with a ‘spirit of adoption’, I can ‘tandem’, connected to the harness of her understanding of what it truly means to be uniquely chosen and prized in the heart of God. Because of her transparency and willingness to share, I am more rooted in the realization of God’s love for me, which causes me to be settled in that respect.
An awesome thing about a God like ours, is that being in His family is the only case in point that I am aware of, that you can, ‘Have your cake and eat it too,’ as the saying goes. You can be ‘born-again’ into His family, and be adopted at the same time. It’s the best of both worlds. And the wonderful thing about a sister like Marilyn is that the two of us can enjoy this ride called friendship together, because there is no doubt we are on the adventure of a lifetime with a Heavenly drop zone!
Today is your birthday, Marilyn, and I want you to know what a gift you are to me and wish above all things, that you would have every good thing that your heart desires. That will all come from the heart of God, of course, but from me, I give you my heart full of love and thanks for our friendship and many more surfaces to ‘scratch’. Happy Birthday, dear friend.
“On this account I bow my knees to the Father from whom every family in Heaven and on earth is named, that He would grant to you according to the wealth of His glory, with power to be strengthened through the Spirit in the inward man, that the Christ might finally settle down and feel completely at home in your hearts through your faith; in love having been firmly rooted and grounded in order that you may be able to grasp with all the saints what is the breadth and width and height and depth, and to know experientially the Love of the Christ which surpasses experiential knowledge in order that you may be filled up to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19 Wuest Translation
