Malachi 4

Old City Jerusalem

(NLT) “His preaching (the Elijah who is to come) will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers.”

(ESV) And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.”

Amplified keeps it all on a spiritual level, rather than in the natural. (AMP) “And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly].”

I think pretty much everyone knows I’m adopted. And, I recently sought out my birth family by doing an Ancestry DNA test. A first cousin on Ancestry put me in touch with a sister, who put me in touch with two aunts, an uncle, another sister and brother, and other cousins.

My in-laws, while they were alive, always exhorted me to find my birth mother. They would watch Oprah, who would occasionally have stories on her program of tearful reunions and first meetings. They always went well. I wouldn’t do it, because I wasn’t at all sure that would be the case with me. Already a person with severe rejection issues, I didn’t want to take that chance.

Why did I now? I’d like to think God was working to heal me and to bring me to a point where I could receive even more love and healing. There are at least two shows on television that do what Oprah did. Investigators bring family members together.

I watched four in a row of one of those shows. I could identify with each of those episodes, in one way or another. But something was stirring in my spirit. Malachi 4.

This is a new angle I haven’t heard from any of the prophets before. If it is indeed a word from the Lord, others will also hear it. I’ve often heard it said that God does something in the natural that He is also doing in the Spirit.

I believe “mothers” can also be included in that verse. Most adopted people want to find their birth mothers, because they have a deeper connection with the woman who carried them in her womb for nine months.

As I watched story after story, of hearts being changed just knowing they’d found their child, or their birth parent(s) was inspiring. One story in particular, shows the truth of this verse.

About 30 years ago, a young man got involved with an older woman, who gave birth to a girl and gave her up for adoption. That girl, contrary to most adoption stories, did not have the best upbringing. Her adoptive father loved her very much, but he had died some years ago. She didn’t feel anyone loved her. That’s all she wanted––for someone to love her.

Meanwhile, the young man, who was wild and a drug addict/alcoholic, cleaned up his life after many years. Then, he was in an accident that left him in a wheelchair. He wanted to find his daughter to ask her forgiveness for allowing her to be given up for adoption, even though he always loved her and thought of her often. Now in his 50s, he sought his daughter. When they find each other, you couldn’t keep the tears from falling. It was beautiful.

Why after so many years, did I change my mind about seeking my biological family? I don’t know. Maybe it’s part of the turning the hearts of the children to the fathers and mothers. But I have two sisters and a brother I am learning to know.

God is bringing families together. He sets the lonely in families. The Lord is reconciling the prodigals and drawing the distant back into familial relationship.

For us adoptees, He’s bringing us into relationship with our biological families. I think it’s all part of Malachi 4.