The Oak Life Journal
May | Jun 2023
By Ysabel Rodriguez
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4 minute read
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“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.”
— Habakkuk 2:2 —
“Is what I am doing even working? Am I doing this for nothing? What is the point of all this anyways?”
These are questions I am sure we have all asked ourselves at some point in our orphan care journey.
We have such a beautiful, yet heart-wrenching, calling that God has led us into as we work in orphan care. Why? Simply put, we are offering healing through relationship to children who have experienced a dark and broken world.
We must come to know and understand that in this mission, we are working with people who are humans just like you and me. And like every predictable human, we have our ups and downs…
WE ARE NOT PERFECT.
So why do we expect a child in our care to be perfect? Even in all their humanness, they are still deserving of perfect love that comes from God the Father, through us, and into them. They are worthy of just as much grace and forgiveness as Jesus offers to us daily.
This work takes a special anointing and grace because, even though we are not the ones who caused the trauma, we are the ones who walk side by side with them as they begin to overcome those traumas. Healing and breaking free from toxic belief systems isn’t always beautiful.
When you find yourself amid weariness, confusion, and/or frustration that wants to consume you and your mission with it, one essential thing we must not forget is the daily practice of coming to Jesus.
Matthew 11:28 tells us—
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
— Matthew 11:28 —
It’s a divine invitation to you, me, and everyone who has the blessing of working in this God-ordained mission. At Jesus’ feet is the only place where we will be able to seek and find the true rest for which our souls are yearning.
The second essential thing we must do is never forget the words God speaks to us concerning these precious children. It’s time for you to go back and remember why you started in the first place. Why did you begin the mission? What was the heart behind it all?
God instructs us through the prophet Habakkuk to write the vision out and make it plain—
“Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”
— Habakkuk 2:2-3 —
If God has spoken a specific verse or shown you something for your mission and/or individual children, begin to write those things down! This is what it means to write the vision and make it plain. Having your “why,” written in front of you is a good physical reminder that you can go back to often.
This will help you wage war as the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy to do—
“This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.”
— 1 Timothy 1:18 —
We are to wage warfare with the prophecies that God has given to us concerning our mission and those precious lives under our care. When the enemy wants to try and bring discouragement or weariness because of the reality of our child’s current state, this is our tactic.
Remembering what God has spoken and letting that be the hands and feet of Jesus we serve with, is what will help us to keep going.
Ysabel Rodriguez
A graduate of the Oak Life School of Orphan Care. She is a proud alumni of Valor Christian College with a degree in both Music Ministry and Missions. Her passion is to inspire others with her God-given creativity to the best of her ability.
Ysabel Rodriguez
A graduate of the Oak Life School of Orphan Care. She is a proud alumni of Valor Christian College with a degree in both Music Ministry and Missions. Her passion is to inspire others with her God-given creativity to the best of her ability.
