God's Adopted Daughter

“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,” Eph 1:5

I recently visited with my father’s family for a few days because my Grandmother was hospitalized. It had been a few years since I had seen any of my extended family. While I was staying at my Grandparent’s house were I had stayed often as a child, it brought up a lot of memories. Sadly the thing I thought about most was how I always felt like an outsider as a child.

See, I was adopted as a baby and was never close to my parents. Growing up I never really felt like I fit in and always looked at myself as not being related to my extended family either. I don’t believe that anyone ever treated me like I wasn’t a full-fledged family member, it was just something that I struggled with myself.

Thinking of all this, I was reminded of the fact that we are considered “adopted” members of God’s family through Jesus. It struck me as odd since finding the Lord was not at all like being adopted but more like discovering my true family. Through the Lord I have discovered the unconditional love and peace that I have never felt my whole life. Everything finally made sense.

Being now a child of God, I didn’t have the same feelings of being an outsider with my family. It wasn’t that I now felt like a blood-relative, but that I didn’t have the need to belong in that way anymore. I was able to look at my extended family as people that I care about, whom I have a history with, and as “neighbors” whom I should love. My desire to belong has been more than fulfilled by my heavenly Father and through his love has come healing from the past.