Contending In Prayer

First things first: a few posts back, I made a promise to deliver halloween candy in exchange for creative story titles, and I'm good for it! Paul and Groovy, I didn't get your orders... do tell! You all are winners for playing along and being silly with me! :-)

The question this post will answer is: "How did God take a grief situation and turn it into pure joy for His glory?" The short answer is, "By orchestrating a cluster of miracles." The (much) longer answer is below...

OUR EXPECTATION:
In order to understand our emotional state when this miracle occurred, you need a little background on where we had thought we'd be. Adoptive parents don't have the suspense of a pregnancy test or a first doctor visit. Instead, the 'magic moment' of sudden knowledge is... the phone call. The "referral" - where the social worker calls and, with great joy, announces there is now a child for consideration. Once you calm down enough to think clearly, you research and consider the referral (usually a 3 day to 2 week process). Then, if you're able to accept, you jump up and down and plan your sneaky surprise 'we're having a baby!' announcement to all your family and friends. This was not our referral.

OUR REALITY:
Through a different cluster of miracles, there was no phone call for us. God helped us find Eva on an online list of waiting children at 3:00 AM one night in the middle of June. Initially receiving her information was exciting! But there wasn't enough to go on... We consulted a specialist who confirmed we would need to get more information in order to move ahead wisely. AND besides all that, (as we discovered almost a month later)... she wasn't yet 'cleared' for adoption. Meaning - the government did not yet recognize her as able to be adopted. I won't go into the long and very gory details... but after a wait of almost 3+ months (having been told it would be 10 days at most), we were tired. Hopes of a 'sneaky surprise' were growing dim as friends and family saw that 'something was up' - and we were just trying to hold it together.

HIS ANSWER:
As Carol Madison spoke at LATTE (FCC's Women's Ministry) last Sunday night, it became clear to me that the type of prayer I had personally been doing the past 3 months, (ex: 'Lord, please help - but You're sovereign - so you're gonna do what you're gonna do') wasn't really 'contending' in prayer. Carol challenged us to push beyond a 'theology of resignation' and really persist - to contend for what it is we believe God wants to give us FOR HIS GLORY.

So after LATTE, that's what we did. Three precious sisters and I (NoOtherName, KJ and Chele) retreated to a side room to pray. This was the tricky part for me... These were three close friends who I knew would provide some of the most satisfying 'happy surprise' factor if I could just wait till the news was 'for sure'. And, for three months, I had been sneaking, half-lying, evading, and all other methods I could think of to resist telling them about Eva. But, that night, after just a few minutes - I knew I had to lay it down. I sobbed as I let go of my ideal surprise and explained that Ed and I had a daughter... and we absolutely needed to contend together in prayer for her clearance. Amidst prolific tears, snot and painful charlie-horses, we repented, and we contended for over an hour until the lights were out, the FCC doors locked, and we knew He had heard us; we had joy. Big joy!

So, it was home to a sound sleep... until 4:30 AM. My eyes shot open and it felt like the middle of the day. Insomnia is not the norm for me (I love sleep!), and I'll spare you the whiny questioning the Lord heard from me for over a half hour before He finally, almost audibly, compelled me to get out of my bed - otherwise, I would miss a blessing. Finally being somewhat certain I'd heard something about a blessing, I gave in and trudged up the stairs to the music room. Where I kneeled on the floor, there was a devotional called 'God Calling' (A.J. Russell) which has a paragraph for each day, but I only read a few times a month. The entries for October 6th and 7th (last weekend) were:

A CHILD'S HAND

"Yes, cling. Your faith shall be rewarded. Do you not know what it means to feel a little trusting hand in yours, to know a child's confidence? Does that not draw out your Love and desire to protect, to care? Think what My Heart feels, when in your helplessness you turn to Me, clinging, desiring My Love and Protection. Would you fail that child, faulty and weak as you are? Could I fail you? Just know it is not possible. Know all is well. You must not doubt. You must be sure. There is no miracle I cannot perform, nothing I cannot do. No eleventh hour rescue I cannot accomplish."

REJOICE AT WEAKNESS

"Yes! I know all. Every cry for mercy. Every sign of weariness. Every plea for help. Every sorry over failure. Every weakness. I am with you through all. My tender sympathy is yours. My strength is yours. Rejoice at your weakness, My children. My strength is made perfect in weakness. When you are weak then am I strong. Strong to help, to cure, to protect. Trust me, my children. I know ALL. I am beside you. Strong, strong, strong to save. Lean on My Love, and know that all is well."

Needless to say, I was completely humbled. I thanked the Lord for His tenderness, mercy, infinite patience with my laziness, and this amazing reminder of His promise - and passed His message on to my dear fellow contenders via email. I ended the email with, "Thank you, dear sisters, for praying tonight. For listening and contending. All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. It is His goodness and sweet tenderness that makes this sure in my heart... I love you!"

I returned to bed and fell asleep immediately. And the first email I received in my Inbox the next morning...?

You guessed it. The exact words from our agency's India Program Director:

"She is cleared!! I will hand-carry her papers with me back to the US. I pick them up on the 12th. Happy day!"

Coincidence? No; Contending... and His absolute grace and tenderness and mercy. God's way was, for us, 100 times better and more joyful than our envisioned way. All glory and honor and praise to HIM. I wouldn't trade this story or our referral process for the world; what a precious reminder of His power and tenderness. Thank you, Lord!!

Ephesians 3:20: Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably MORE than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.