God wants to expand our hearts so that his orphans will fit.

Several years ago, he confronted me with the proposition that his orphans were going to start taking over my life.  He informed me that he wanted them on my porch and in my kitchen.  He wanted to begin by making room in my heart for them.

The problem is that I like the privacy of my front porch. And by and large, Karen likes children out of the way when she cooks.

But God wanted me to understand that he is more interested in his orphans than my comfort.

The other day I was talking to Scott Borg, our director in Swaziland.  The ministry there has grown.  We didn't used to feed orphans, but these days, with partners like Children's HopeChest, we feed thousands  More and more orphans are showing up at our centers looking for food and love. I asked how many we feed.

"5000," he said.

That blows my mind.  AIM is not an orphan ministry per se.  We minister to a lot of orphans as we seek to engage in "true religion" around the globe.  But I'm learning to make room in my heart for them.

Churches in Uganda are not orphan ministries per se, but many of them devote the lion's share of their tithes to the work of caring for orphans.

And I suppose a lot of us might say that "I'm not an orphan ministry person." But the problem with that is that God has got lots of orphans and he's an orphan ministry God.

Have you made room in your church for the agenda of an orphan-loving God?  He wants to make room in our hearts for his orphans.  As long as our hearts are filled with our own stuff, they can't accommodate God's orphans (or other objects of his affection).

If you struggle with that, I have good news - he wants to perform heart surgery to expand your heart's capacity to love. All you have to do is ask him. And I guarantee you, it will be worth it.