The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. –2 Peter 3:9
Trust His Process
Austin and Hannah Benjamin always wanted a big family, and they knew early on that adoption would be a significant part of it. In fact, on their first date, Hannah told Austin if he wasn’t interested in adoption, their relationship wasn’t going to work. Several years later, after welcoming two biological children into the world, they were finally ready to begin the adoption process. But to their surprise, they both felt a pull for something different.
“The plan was to adopt, but the Lord put it on our hearts to pursue fostering,” Austin recalls.
As their excitement for this new idea grew, so did a feeling they couldn’t shake. “The goal for foster care is reunification with the biological parents,” says Austin. “And so there’s a possibility of being heartbroken.” But regardless of the likely losses ahead, Hannah and Austin leaned in and trusted God’s call.
New Additions
Enter Cyrus—a sweet baby boy who was the answer to Hannah’s lifelong prayers. “Having him physically in our arms and getting to love on a prayer that I cried over—it was just pure bliss,” says Hannah.
But one day, they received a call. The call. Cyrus was going home to live with his biological aunt. In most cases, reunification is a joyful moment, but for the Benjamins, it brought the reality of deep loss. The day they gave him back, they faced a long walk from the front door to the car, where, after too short of a notice, they would say goodbye to Cyrus. However, the Benjamins’ call to foster remained strong.
A Growing Family
They received another call about a little girl named Monae, and this time, it led to adoption—just as they welcomed their newest biological daughter Nora into their home.
One week after Nora was born and one month before Monae’s adoption day, Hannah ran into a Child Protective Services (CPS) case worker she knew. Cyrus needed a home again, and this time it would be permanent. In a matter of five months, Austin and Hannah’s family went from two kids to five kids. Within those months, they experienced more loss and heartache than they ever thought possible; they also experienced God’s goodness deeper than ever before. “God is just good,” says Hannah. “He’s good, even when we don’t feel like it, because we don’t always know what He’s doing in the background.”
God's Bigger Plan
Just like Austin and Hannah’s story, there are times when the doors seem to open one after the other, we are confident God is leading us, and then the last door slams in our face. It’s bewildering! It can feel like we missed God’s will in that situation completely. But the truth is, God is with us every step of the way—even as we stand there in the middle of the story, picking up the pieces of our dreams.
It can be scary to trust God with our deep desires. We’re afraid if we don’t hold onto them tightly, it might lead to heartache. But the truth is, when we give God our desires and dreams, we can trust He knows what to do with them.
What God Asks of Us
God doesn’t change our journeys on a whim—He cares about our desires. But He also asks us to trust Him. He is perfect and sees the bigger picture—that all people come to know and experience Him. Giving Jesus our dreams and desires can sometimes lead to a more complicated journey than we would like, but we can also trust that He is weaving in so much more goodness and faithfulness for us and others if we let Him take charge. And, best of all, He will fulfill our desires better than we ever could have imagined!
Even if the road seems long and the end results look different than what you initially wanted, are you willing to have faith in His promises? To choose to walk in obedience, accept the changes to your desires, and willingly welcome the outcome, no matter how difficult or great? Let’s have the radical trust that one day we’ll look back and see that His ways are better than ours when we give them to Him!
What does this mean for me?
Have you given God the deepest desires of your heart? He already knows them, but He wants us to trust in Him and abide in His faithfulness (Psalm 37:4). What does God want you to do with your desires today? Maybe He wants you to lay them down, trust Him with them, or walk faithfully in His plan. As you go through today, remember that even when we don’t see His plan, He is moving and wants to change our lives and those around us for the better.
This article is part of the Let’s Go devotional, which is focused on fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission. Follow along with the devotional here.