“I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you” – John 14:18
So often we forget about the heart of the father – the heart of our father. So often we, like the disciples so long ago misinterpret the words of Jesus, ignoring when He says He must go and believing that He is simply there to fulfill what our selfish heart’s desire. And then in the moment when it feels like He’s left us, we become unglued, falling apart; fearing His wrath, or that He has abandoned us and left us to die.
This is one of the cores of the orphan mindset, a mindset that has pervaded church thinking for centuries. It is the belief that once we can no longer see someone, they are no longer there for us. That when someone leaves us, we forget their promises and focus on the problem at hand. That when God suddenly seems silent and absent in the midst of our darkest nights, our worst struggles; that He’s somehow abandoned us.
But He hasn’t. He is still with us, abiding within us and helping us carry the heavy burden that is weighing us down. To quote Kris Vallotton, “When God speaks, worlds come into existence; but when God stops speaking that’s when He begins to form us.”
Let’s think practically here. Creation story – God spoke and things happened, and it was good. God stopped speaking, and that’s when life was born – He formed man out of the ground and fashioned women from the rib of man. When He spoke, drastic changes happened – when He fell silent, that’s when we were created.
I would like to propose that even when He seems distant and silent, that’s when He’s forming you. That’s when He begins to shape who you are, to work out the imperfections and impurities within you. The orphan mindset will try and make you think that He’s abandoned you, but that’s just not true. He won’t leave you as an orphan – He is always coming for you. With arms wide open, in love.
(To access the entire “Dragon Tramps or Kingdom Heirs” devotional series, please click here.)