From Orphan To Son

A little over three years ago, I had a seminal experience of God that concluded with an exhortation to “Be diligent.” After fumbling around in confusion for a few months, thinking that diligence was equivalent to haste, God spoke to me through Ezra 7:10 (“Ezra set his heart to understand the law of Yahweh, and to practice it, and to teach His ordinances and statutes in Israel.”) and told me, “Mike, you are good at studying and at teaching, but you need to more diligent in your practice.” It was a tough overhaul of how I approached my Christian faith, but I have grown more in the last three years than in the previous fifty! This was highlighted for me, just recently, when Dorothy and I attended a leadership conference at our church. Now we had totally forgotten that we had previously attended this same conference during the pandemic. A double senior moment! At one point we were given a handout that contrasted an “orphan spirit” with a “sonship spirit” in regards to how you perceived yourself in relation to God as a Father. As I looked over the handout, now for the second time, I realized that a good portion of the growth that I had experienced in my life centered on this very issue. I specifically remembered how surprised I had been, the first time I considered the sheet, how much I related to God as an orphan. But now, the surprise was in how much I related to God as a son. I have shared with a number of people my testimony of growth, but I wasn’t able to pinpoint exactly how I had grown in this regard. I believe that the reason behind our ‘joint senior moment’ was simply God’s way of encouraging me in my new walk by stating an obvious consequence (the actual fruit) of my re-orientation. So, I give thanks to my heavenly Father for His abundant lovingkindness and truth as revealed and experienced in my life.