"We have named her Arya [which means happiness], and we will take care of her forever," the adoptive father, Mohammad Zahir, a 29-year-old shopkeeper from Ghazni, Afghanistan, said Thursday. "She has completely changed our lives. We are so happy. The whole family has been supportive of our decision."
Zahir has been married for four years, but he and his wife have been unsuccessful in their attempts to have children.
After a visit to a Ghazni hospital, however, he and his wife have their family.
"A man, Mohammad Zahir, contacted us and asked if his family could take care of the baby," Baz Mohammad Himat, director of health in Ghazni, said. "They promised to take care of her for the rest of their lives.
"This family was on a waiting list with this hospital for any unwanted baby."
Just like this little girl, God finds us and adopts us into His family. -Good Morning America, September 27, 2012
Adoption is not a subject we talk about very much in church. We don’t often think about it from a biblical point of view. But as I begin this message, I realize that there are many people who are intimately acquainted with adoption.
You may have been adopted, or you may have adopted a child yourself, or perhaps you were raised in a family that included adopted children. If any of those things is true about you, you probably have a better understanding of the biblical teaching than those who have never experienced adoption first hand.
Many Christians don’t realize that adoption is a profoundly biblical concept. It is one of the key words that the Apostle Paul uses to describe our relationship to God. In a number of places, the New Testament uses the word adoption to describe how we come into God’s family (Romans 8:15, 23, 9:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5).
However, the meaning is not exactly the same as our common English usage. The Greek word for adoption means to place as a son within a family with full family privileges as an adult member of the family. That’s the background of Paul’s thought in Galatians 4:1-7.
When we come to Christ, God sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts to give us new life and the assurance that we are God’s children. This is the “still, small voice” of God that speaks to the soul and whispers, “You are now a child of God.” That same Holy Spirit within us cries out “Abba, Father.” The word “Abba” comes from an Aramaic word that little children would use to speak to their fathers.
It is an intimate, personal word of endearing affection. In English you might say “Dad” or “Daddy” or “Papa” or “Dear Father.” It’s a very tender way of talking to our Heavenly Father. No longer is he some distant God up in the sky. Now he is our “Heavenly Daddy.”
If we know Jesus as Savior, God is now our Heavenly Father and we can come to him in prayer anytime, anywhere, for any reason, and he will never turn us away. When we are in trouble, when the world has turned against us, when we are so discouraged that we feel like giving up, when we are confused about what to do next, the Holy Spirit whispers, “Talk to your Father in heaven. He’s waiting to hear from you.”
The Spirit within us brings us back to our Father again and again and teaches us to say, “Abba, Father.” -Special thanks to Ray Pritchard
Scripture verses: 1 John 4:4; Hebrews 12:9; Philippians 2:15; Philippians 2:15; Proverbs 14:26; John 14:15; 2 Chronicles 7:14
Prayer: Father, Thank you that you restore, support, and strengthen us. Thank you that you will place us on a firm foundation. Lord, we thank you that when we call on you, you will not allow our feet to stumble or slip, and that you never sleep as you keep watch over us (Psalm 121:3). Amen
May your day be blessed!
Nadine
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