Why do Orphans Need Families?
Four Reasons Orphans Need Families
1. Family is God’s intention.
According to Ephesians 1, adoption is the intention of the universe. Before the Father spoke the world into existence, He foreordained our adoption, He actually picked us out as His own because it was His kind intent. Before the Father spoke hills, valleys, giant sequoia or any of the mysteries and marvels of nature, He thought of family. Family was His intention. Who are we to think we know of a better way? Some over-spiritualize these verses and quote it as theology and don’t apply it to our present circumstances. We shake our fist at God and say, where are you? What are you doing? Don’t you see the devastation? The war, the famine? His reply? He saw it before Eve was tempted by the serpent. He knew. His question for us? Where are you? Family is my priority. I set the lonely in families. Orphans need families.
2. Families are the mini units society is built on.
Our modern society often demotes family to the low man on the totem pole of life. But the opposite is true if we are to have a well-functioning society. Families are the building blocks of society. A society is only as strong as the families that run it. When God began His earthly family through a covenant with Abraham, he promised that Abraham’s descendants would outnumber the stars. An orphan needs to be in a family so he can be connected. Each of us has a strong need to connect, to be interdependent. To belong. That is what family is. Belonging. Family is laughing at the same jokes, celebrating the same traditions, building together, working together, eating together, serving together. All of these knit a block of family into a strong unit. Orphans need families.
3. Family is the place where character grows.
Orphans need to be part of families so they can grow and be nurtured. Families are fertile soil for growth in body and soul. The home is the practice ground for relationships, for trying and failing, for loving, for work, for character. Orphans need to be part of families so they can grow in wisdom. Home is where parents teach children right from wrong, when they sit, when they stand, when they walk by the way. When children are taught morals and values in a family unit, the family is stronger, the community is stronger, the nation is stronger. Orphans need families.
4. Family is a place to come home to.
Orphans need to be part of a family to have a home. A home is a place where character grows, a family is a mini unit of society, a carbon copy of God’s original plan. It is also preparation for heaven. Heaven can be pretty hard to imagine, especially if you have been raised in a war torn country or traumatic circumstances. Home for an orphan should be safety, comfort, a stepping-stone for healing and a foretaste of heaven. The message of the Gospel doesn’t have to be preached in words first, but in action. The Gospel says that God is enough. He has enough to meet needs. He will restore what has been taken. He will heal , set free from the prison of circumstances. He will give beauty for ashes. And then… those who have been healed, who know the truth can share their story and help another. The road to heaven is open to go home to. Orphans need that choice. Home is where they find it. Orphans need families.