Authority and Love and God's command

So, have you all ever questioned the authority and "Why are they doing this?" Well, that was what a lot of this weekend was about. I chose an agency to help us in our process of adoption. God chose them as our authority for this process. We followed His plan. The agency has made a decision that has hurt me and a lot of other families to the core. We will not be allowed to visit our children or receive them in the orphanage. Unfortunately they will be brought to us at our hotel. As you can imagine, we were disappointed. At first I wanted to send the "angry" email, but thankfully God stopped me on that. Instead I have prayed so very hard this weekend and cried so many tears over how to handle this. So, please continue to pray for my heart, my agency to change their minds, my children, and the impacts this may have. It is unfortunate that so many families are now bitter toward this agency that we all loved so much just last week. I have researched so many orphanages and they to have these "hiccups".

So what does all this mean? I was reminded by God through all of this that we are to follow our authority. 1 Peter talks about who we are to obey and follow.

1 Peter 1:16-17 F- or the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy. And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as "foreigners in the land."" - We are to follow Christ and be like Christ in all we do. Let us be holy in our decisions and actions. We are not here to be compared to other people nor are we here to compare their actions to "what we would have done". We are here to support, love and pray over.

1 Peter 2:13-1 - 13 For the Lord's sake, respect all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. - God appoints our authorities to us. My agency is the authority on the matter of our adoption, my boss is my authority at work, my husband is my authority at home. I am to be submissive to them and respect them. However, that does not mean I must bow down to them. That is reserved for the everlasting King - God the Father, Christ the Son, Spirit the Counselor. I am able to offer my advice to them, though.

1 Peter 3:8-12 - Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it. For the Scriptures say,"If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil." - So for now I have to hold to God's command and His promise. In the end I will get my children and I will love them and they will love me. This is a minor hiccup in our process, and one day it probably won't matter. I love my children and meeting them in a hotel room or a foster home, I will love them no less. There are still so many things to experience in their country outside of the home.

Either way our agency decides, I want to do all out of love. I want everything to be Godly and what is right only for our children. Please pray for the right outcome in this new road we are on.