Devotions by Christine Caine

Read Psalms 139:13–16

David, the great psalmist, sings praises to the God who created him and watched over him even as he was growing in his mother’s womb.

Adopted

Some years ago, my mum disclosed that my brother and I were adopted. At first, I was shaken, But I wasn’t shaken loose. Even as the underpinnings of my world were shifting radically, they were resettling in a more secure place. The truth of God’s love was holding me together.

I knew God loved me, unquestionably, unconditionally, whether I was adopted or not. His love is relentless, unyielding, passionate, unfailing, perfect. A feeling of peace, supernatural peace, engulfed me. Everything was going to be okay. That may seem like an odd conclusion, in light of the fact that my life, or at least everything I’d thought I knew about my life, was unraveling before my eyes. Nevertheless, I felt undaunted because of an unchanging, never-failing truth: God was in control of my life.

For more than a decade, I’d immersed myself daily in God’s Word. I had memorized countless verses about God’s love for me. I desperately needed his love, and when I read how he loved me, I soaked it up. I meditated upon those words, pondered and prayed over them. I found life in them. The words contained promises that excited me. Now those promises were holding me.

The truth you store up in silence comes back to you in the storm and lifts you away as on a life raft from the fears and disappointments that would otherwise pull you under. When you abide in his Word, he abides in you.

God knew me and loved me before I was even me. He knew me before I was born, and throughout my adoption, and he knew me even now that I wasn’t sure who I was anymore. He loved me despite any trouble I found myself in or challenges I faced. I could mess up or melt down and he would love me still. I could be ashamed of where I came from or try to hide who I was, and God would still love me, knowing me better than I knew myself. He loved me so much that he would always have my back in any challenge or distress, and he would go before me through anything unknown.

Yes, I thought. I’m not who I thought I was. I am so much more. I am loved by God, the maker of the universe, the maker of me, and I was loved by him before I was born and will be after I die.

Point to Ponder

Life is full of surprises. Can you trust God to go with you through any unknown circumstance or situation? Are you convinced that he has always loved you and he loves you now? Once you know who you are in him, you might be temporarily shaken but never forsaken.