The God Who Meets You in Your Need

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12, NIV

For 15 years, my husband and I had been parenting our three children. Though it wasn’t easy, we felt like we had been doing it pretty well. Dare I say we felt confident in our parenting?

Then we adopted our two sons from Colombia, and suddenly our confidence in our parenting skills took a swift turn downward.

Brandon and Carlos were 10 and almost 13 years old when they joined our family. Their life experiences were very different from ours. Their personalities and expectations were different from ours. And we did not speak the same language–both literally and figuratively.

Romans 12:12 has long been one of my favorite verses, but it became even more important to me after I became an adoptive mother. It says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Without these three elements, I probably would have quit trying to parent my adopted sons a long time ago.

The reminder to have hope has been a crucial part for me, but my hope must be properly placed. It cannot be placed in myself or my circumstances; it must be placed in the Lord. Being patient in affliction might be the hardest part for me, but God continually teaches me to trust Him through it and reminds me that all seasons eventually come to an end. And then the part about being faithful–or constant–in prayer… This is likely the greatest lesson I have learned through these past five and a half years of being an adoptive parent. I am continually driven to my knees in dependence on God, because I am at the end of myself and cannot continue in my own strength.

Mamas, we cannot do this on our own. We must be continually connected to Christ. It is He who does the work! Our part is to be obedient by being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. And sometimes, He uses difficult parenting situations to remind us of this very truth.

Press on, Mama!

*This article was featured through New Mercies for Moms. Be sure to check out this great ministry!

More Moments in the Word:

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:24b-25

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9