Everyday Heroes
The dictionary defines “hero” as a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities.
It defines “superhero” as a stock character that possesses abilities beyond those of ordinary people, who typically uses their powers to help the world become a better place. or is dedicated to protecting the public, and stopping evil.
I don’t much like the dictionary definition of “superhero” (with the exception of the phrases “helping the world become a better place” and “stopping evil”), because it does not describe very well, the people I know who are superheroes.
The superheroes I know are certainly not “stock characters,” the abilities they have are not beyond those of ordinary people (in fact, most of them consider themselves to be “ordinary people”), but they are certainly using their powers (and abilities) to help the world become a better place, and they are stopping a very real evil.
Our foster parents, house parents, prayer partners, financial supporters, and partners in ministry are clearly superheroes! Daily, they make the world a better place for the fatherless and for fragile families. Most of the time, they do this by routinely engaging in what appear to be rather mundane tasks. They prepare meals, they give hugs, they help with homework, they sing babies to sleep, they calm fears (both reasonable and irrational), they put band-aids on skinned knees, and they pray unceasingly for the children in our care.
In Ephesians 6:12, Paul reminds us that, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” To the naïve onlooker, there is no difference between how one of our foster parents cares for a child and how anyone else cares for their child.
But, to the discerning eye, every time a foster dad drops kids off in the carpool line to go to school, or a foster mom leaves work early to take her foster child to a doctor’s appointment, or a million other rather routine parenting tasks, a spiritual battle is taking place. A spiritual war is being waged for the very soul of the fatherless children we serve. If our enemy was flesh and blood, we would need to be armed with conventional weapons (and maybe “abilities beyond those of normal people”).
But our battle is against invisible forces that want to destroy a child’s belief that they are worth loving. We fight against wicked powers that want a child to never even hear of the steadfast love of God that lasts forever (Psalm 136). So, we fight our battles with unique (sometimes quite ordinary) weapons of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). And we point the children in our care to the ultimate superhero, Jesus, our Savior.
In our fall issue of Lifeprints, you will read about superheroes engaged in battle to help the world become a better place and to fight evil. Most people would never see them as heroes, but most people do not understand the nature and the reality of spiritual warfare. As you read these articles, please pray for the superheroes in our ministry and for every child they will save. The battle for these children is real. Thank you for helping us be ready for the fight!