What God Has to Say about Adoption

Last night, Heather, Ali, Jessee, Jennifer and I got together for our first LTG.  Um, WOW.

I had to have my car inspected yesterday morning for the yearly state inspection, so as I sat waiting for it, I read Galatians.  And then I prayed.  And half fell asleep because I was so full and peaceful.

In only 6 chapters, Galatians in so full of good “stuff.”  The fruit of the spirit.  Sowing and Reaping.  Being Saved through Faith.  Guarding yourself from legalism.  Ignoring “good works.”  What it all comes down to is that God is just so amazing.

I have trouble staying in the Word like I know I should, but I’m so hungry to learn and to be spoken to.  That desire is something I’ve been praying for.  I can tell that this LTG is going to be such a turning point in my walk with the Lord.  I just know so strongly in my heart that I’ll never be the same.

It’s no coincidence at all that adoption has been a big theme for me lately and Galatians talks all about adoption!

“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.  But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of His son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”      - Galatians 4:3-7

How true.  The Lord directed that right at me yesterday.  It’s still sinking in.

As a child, I was in bondage.  Someone didn’t want me.  Someone didn’t care.  I was merely a product of the momentary utter stupidity of two teenagers.  I carried that belief for years.  I’m still in the process of healing. 

It always just makes me absolutely speechless to know that the Lord created me, exactly the way I am, for a very specific purpose only I can fill.  And it’s not because I am good enough.  I never could be if I tried.  It is simply because I believe.  Because I walk in faith.  Because I put my trust in Him.  He wanted me and He chose my birthmother to carry me.  And He knew I would need her and he knew I would need my birthdad.  He knew it all and he allowed me to build a relationship with them as a child because He knew my heart would be too broken to wait until I was 18 to get answers.  He knew I was going to be cut off from my birthmother in the middle of our reunion.  He knew it was going to kill me and He understood.  Through my pain, He allowed it to continue in order to show me that only His love could make me complete.  And after I accepted that, He brought her back to me.   

It still is hard.  It still is painful.  But I know He feels what I do and he completely understands every reason under the sun why I have the feelings I do.  He gets it because he created me.

Another scripture that got to me was this one:

“…God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…”    Galatians 1:15-16

I’m going to school for Youth Ministry.  I want to be a Youth Pastor.  I want to preach to young people.  And God only knows (I don’t mean that to be sarcastic at all!) whether I would have found Him if I would have stayed with my birthparents.  I am in NO WAY saying that they are lesser people or “bad” for not having the same beliefs as me.  All I am saying is that I probably wouldn’t have been raised in the same environment as I was.  I love all people and am really trying to stay away from the “Hypocritical Christian Bible Thumper Closed Minded Person” we all strongly dislike.  (Hate is a strong word.)  I love my birthparents much more than I love the average person I walk past on the street because I am close to them, regardless of what their faith is or isn’t.  I guess what I am trying to say is that I really believe it to be God’s calling that I preach and work with youth.  And I might not have found that if I wasn’t in a hardcore Christian home.  It doesn’t mean that being with my parents instead of my birthparents made my life better or worse.  It just means He had a plan. 

This isn’t coming out like I had hoped.  Anyone who knows me in real life and not just in cyber world knows that I would never want to offend anyone.  Religion is a tough one to debate with people.  And I don’t like doing it.  I just know what I have been through and I know that some things can only be explained by God’s perfect work.  Whether you agree with what I believe or not is up to you.  You can disagree.  I have no problem with that.  I just know that in my own life, God has given me purpose.  And He is enough even when this whole adoption thing has destroyed me to the core.