Adoption and Galatians 5

The past 3 years of life and marriage and trying to have a family have taught me a few things. One of the [many] passages that I've studied, meditated on, leaned into has been Galatians 5.

All along this journey, I've longed for freedom. Freedom from my expectations, pain, time lines, sin, disappointments, and control issues. Galatians 5 has taught me a lot about what God's heart is for us when it comes to freedom and how we find it. In fact, I preached on this chapter at Newsong on July 4th with my friend, Frances.Galatians 5:5 identifies how we find a life of freedom:

But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

I'm no theologian, but I've learned more about the context and meaning of this passage from a few theologians. Here are some bullet point thoughts...

  • Faith + Waiting = Righteousness. Righteousness is gained through faith and waiting. I wish it was gained through comfort and instant gratification, but clearly God's ways are not my ways [for good reasons!].
  • In the Greek [original language of the New Testament] the word for FAITH is "pistis". Throughout the New Testament, "pistis" is translated into 3 different words: faith, belief, or trust. Read Galatians 5 three times exchanging those words with each other. It gives it much more depth and profundity.
  • The goal of our faith, belief, and trust is about bring alignment of my will to God's will. Do I trust him? That's where the rubber meets the road. I want to trust him more. Perhaps that's WHAT he's been desiring to do throughout these past 3 years.
  • Waiting is God-initiated as we trust in him; he will act. Waiting is a catalyst of sorts to deepen our faith, trust, and belief in God. Of course, it can also cultivate disbelief, mistrust, and doubt, but it's through waiting that our character is revealed and developed.
  • Righteousness produces hope. There is a good end to waiting! God wants to instill hope for him - not our desired outcome - into the fibers of our soul. I have found my hope transferring more and more over the past few years from a baby to knowing God, finding myself falling in love with him more and more.

His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. Beautiful. God's so cool like that. How gracious he is to us!

This song has been a comfort and director for my waiting. Enjoy...

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April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.