Orphaned

I recently came across an invitation for writers to submit devotions about the goodness of God.  Specific Scriptures were listed from which to choose.  Scanning the list I noticed 1 Chronicles 1 was available.  I quickly read the chapter and thought, 1 Chronicles 1, that’s a strange passage to write about since it is a chapter listing genealogy records.  Occasionally, a few words were penned about an individual, such as being a mighty warrior or chief.  No wonder no one else has signed up for this one.  Yet for some reason, I was drawn to it. 

Soon thereafter, I recalled a recent conversation with a dear friend.  “I feel like an orphan,” she said.  Now in her seventies, she had said her final good-bye to her parents.  No longer would she enjoy visits with them or make more memories.  Their time on earth was finished.  Memorial services had been held in their honor and their remains lay still in the earth.

Hers had been a close-knit family with all that such relationships can bring, including both celebrations and challenges.  Since we had spent much time together, she had shared many stories of their joys and sorrows.  Yet now she would face the rest of her days without them.  She grieved and felt alone and orphaned.

The conversation rolled around in my head for days as I recalled others I also knew to be social orphans.  “In contrast to a biological orphan, a social orphan may have living parents, but due to drug addiction, abandonment, poverty, etc. the parents are not able to handle their responsibilities, forcing the child to find a sense of home and love somewhere else.” [i]  Drs. Cloud and Townsend continue, “God has designed us to grow up in godly families where parents do the things he has commanded.  They nurture us, they have good boundaries, they forgive and help us resolve the split between good and bad, and they empower us to become responsible adults.  But many people have not had this experience.  They are psychological orphans who need to be adopted and cared for by the body of Christ; to differing extents, this is true of all of us.” [ii]  These thoughts were weighty in my mind as I considered the emotional pain experienced by so many in the body of Christ and our immense responsibility to show compassion and care. It was then that I remembered what Jesus said:

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.   John 14:15-18 (NIV 1984) [emphasis added]

So as we travel through our days, let us remember to interact gently with one another.  Many are orphans in varying ways; some are physically orphaned while others may be socially, psychologically or emotionally orphaned.  Perhaps there are those around us whom we might adopt for a season.  And who may have adopted us along the way, helping us to become who we are today?

 
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.   James 1:27 (NIV BGW)

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[i] Barber, Matthew.  “What Does it Mean to be an Orphan?” Hope Unlimited – for children. https://hopeunlimited.org/what-does-it-mean-to-be-an-orphan/#:~:text=Although%20many%20recognize%20an%20orphan,their%20own%20meanings%20and%20implications. Retrieved: 16 Apr 2023.

[ii] Drs. Cloud, Henry & Townsend, John. Boundaries. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing. 1992.