Answers
By Billy Graham • April 15, 2009 • Topics: Family, Holidays
Q:
Mother's Day is always a painful time for me, because my mother gave me up for adoption when I was a baby and I never knew her. I'm thankful for my adoptive family, but I still have this hurt inside me, knowing that I'll never know my real mother. Why did God do this to me?
A:
God understands your feelings—but He also wants to help you overcome them and not be burdened by them. And there’s no better time to begin this process than on Mother’s Day, when we celebrate the gift God has given us of our mothers. After all, without them we wouldn’t even be here.
It’s natural for us to focus on what’s wrong or imperfect about our lives. But is that wise? Often we can’t do anything about them, and we end up carrying that burden with us the rest of our lives. But God doesn’t want us to live that way. He wants us to give our burdens to Him—and then leave them there. The Bible says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” (Psalm 55:22).
Begin by turning your life—and your burdens—over to Jesus Christ and asking Him to come into your life. When you do, you will discover a wonderful truth: God adopts you into His family! You become His child forever, and He is now your Heavenly Father who loves you with an everlasting love.
Then learn the discipline of thankfulness. Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, focus instead on what you do have. Thank God every day for your adoptive parents, and thank God for His love for you. Nothing crowds out our disappointments and fears more forcefully than a thankful heart.
