God's Odds

During a day-long training taught by the legendary Judy Stigger, The Lady learned an alarming statistic compiled from numerous long-term studies on children who were adopted at 18 months or older. Almost 1/4 never recover from their initial trauma or abandonment, and are possibly unable to function on their own as an adult. About half make significant progress from their early developmental delays, but remain handicapped in one or two areas for the remainder of their life. Only 25% become full-functioning, healthy adults in all aspects.

As the father of a girl who was adopted from Ethiopia at more than 30 months old, these are sobering statistics. Just as we began to believe that she would overcome her disadvantaged start in life, our hopes were deflated by these numbers. And as we are now in the early stages of adopting an even older special-needs child from India, this is absolutely terrifying.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

We've gone into the Father's business. And here are the odds he faces, as Jesus explains:

A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

That is, in God's program of redemption, 25% of the time it totally fails, 50% of the time any success is limited and/or short-lived, and 25% of the time it truly succeeds. Our efforts to bring redemption to orphans are, in general, no more or less successful than God's efforts to redeem the lost.

Discouraging as these numbers may be, can we honestly expect to be more successful than God? Our Lord and Savior did not seem to let this deter him in his mission "to seek and to save the lost."

May we approach our calling as adoptive parents with clear-eyed realism, but with joy in the certainty that we are joining God in His work. If God can accept these odds, perhaps we can as well.