Adopted

Adoption is such a miracle. For a child all alone to now be part of a family is a feeling that truly can only be understood by a child adopted. But we can all relate to loneliness, then feeling accepted, chosen, loved. To think that when we choose to follow God He then chooses to adopt us and make us His children is the ultimate acceptance.

This passage goes even deeper and says that if we are God's children we are then His heirs, co-heirs with Christ. What is Christ an heir of? Absolutely everything that God has. That's us! We are heirs of everything that God has. What a gift. What a true sense of belonging. What completeness to our being.

It doesn't stop there however. The apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Spirit states that we are co-heirs with Christ if we also share in his sufferings. I know we like to gloss over that part. We want to paint only a rosy picture. But we all know suffering goes on in this world. We've all suffered to some extent. What is important is that we share in His sufferings. What does that mean and how do we do it?

To understand a statement we must look at its context, what came before and what comes after it. In this discourse Paul is talking about believers walking in agreement with the Spirit (the before) in order that the rest of God's creation would come to know Him (the after). Anything in that realm that causes suffering would be sharing in His suffering.

But look at what Paul says next, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us," (Rom. 8:18). And Paul had truly suffered. He'd been beaten, shipwrecked, hunted like a criminal, his reputation torn to shreds. So, while we may not understand our suffering or see the reason behind it we can believe that God's magnificence will be seen in us. I believe there are two main ways that happens--through the building of our character and through bringing another to believe in Christ.

If you are going through suffering right now look ahead. Just as you accepted Christ by faith, see through eyes of faith that glory, God's majesty will follow. Remind yourself of the beauty of your adoption into God's family. Feel the wonder of being accepted, chosen, loved. Allow the love of the Father to embrace you. Climb up into the arms of our Daddy--God and allow His divine comfort to be yours. Allow this time to develop traits in your character for His glory and ultimately to bring another along with you on your journey to eternity.