“and you belong to Christ….” 1 Corinthians 3:23 (NLT)
Nothing feels better than someone opening a door, greeting you with a smile, a hug, and an energy that says “I am so glad you are here!” All at once you feel seen, loved, and like you belong in that place.
I have learned the importance of the need for a sense of “belonging” throughout this life. A place or group where you feel you “fit” where people understand you. Maybe you align your morals the same way or have similar interests. When you are in this place or with these people you feel like you are….home. You may be thinking of the place you feel that sense of belonging, maybe it is in your home, or work, maybe in a certain club. It could be in a church. It might just be in nature, alone. Maybe….you don’t feel you belong anywhere at all….
I have dabbled a little in belonging in all of these places. Sometimes I work with a group of people that just has a beautiful rhythm and sync and then, poof, that group shifts or changes. Sometimes I have felt completely understood in a group or friendship and then something happens to show we are just not aligned the same way anymore. I’ve even felt that I belong in a church and before I know it, the Lord has led me away to see new things and meet new people. And truthfully, I have spent a whole lot of time in the category of “I don’t belong anywhere at all.”
But God…
He reminds us that we always belong to Him.
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household…” Ephesians 2:19
Even when we feel we have left it all behind and have no one or anything that makes us feel we belong anymore, he reminds us:
“…no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” Mark 10:28-30
So, while we may not feel that we belong in the place He has us right now, he promises to give us so much more for having followed Him there; however, he did remind us as well that there would be persecutions (likely…moments we feel we don’t belong where we are), but that it would lead to a life that lasts forever in the world to come. To which I add, where we all will feel we belong!
My boys and I have had several encounters with people or groups where we thought we belonged….but abruptly realized we did not and were treated in an unloving way. We were left feeling like animals dropped on the curb at a shelter and it hurt. After one such occurrence, we found ourselves at a favorite pizza place. We sat down defeated, rejected, and seemingly alone. Like no one else in the world new or understood us. Like we didn’t belong anywhere but together. On the wall was a lit up sign that said “Family” and that day God reminded me what family is supposed to be, a place we create where we belong. That is the kind of family He wants us building outside of the walls of our own home. One that makes anyone feel they belong as they are. Today I share an image of us over a year later at the same place, different circumstances and we were grateful to have the door opened, a chair to sit on, no one rushing us, and someone with a smile on their face glad we showed up.
Wishing you a sense of belonging today with our God and with those He may send your way to let you know you aren’t alone. Let’s be the ones who open doors with smiles on our faces, invite people in, and create more spaces that make others feel they belong because in the process we feel we belong there too!
Father, Today I Surrender:
My Belonging
Show me the next step I should take.