Guest Devotion: Belonging

Meet my friend, Lauren Powell.

I’ve had the privilege of knowing Lauren for 20 years. Our friendship has ebbed and flowed, but since reconnecting in 2017 we have remained close friends as we’ve walked our journeys with Jesus together. She is passionate about investing in the younger generation as a teacher at Veritas Christian Academy in Lexington, KY. Additionally, after prompting from the Lord, she created Soar Voice Studios (@soarvoicestudios) in 2021, where she teaches beginner tap, and vocal lessons. Her singing voice is beautiful, but her voice for the Kingdom is what sets her apart. I’m grateful for her friendship, and know you will be blessed by her.

But now you belong to Christ Jesus. At one time you were far away from God. Now you have been brought close to Him. Christ did this for you when He gave His blood on the cross (Ephesians 2:13, NLV).

Belonging. Acceptance. Family. These are all words that I’ve been meditating on lately as they stand out to me from scripture. There’s an innate desire in all of us to fit in, a desire to belong to a community where we are heard, where we don’t feel judged, where we know that we matter.

Many people, because of their longing to fit in, put up a façade and become a dishonest version of themselves. The friends they thought they had end up only appreciating them for the counterfeit version of who they are. Others, because of seeing that they won’t fit in, become more independent pushing away a world that seems so unaccepting.

Neither of these things lead to a truly honest community where one can grow in their God given identity. At the heart of the matter, there’s a desperate yearning to belong and a fear of rejection.

Most of us know the sting of rejection. We understand what it feels like to be chosen last as a teammate or to be excluded when an invite is given to friends. Whether it happened to you as a child or as an adult, the pain is still very real and very harmful. And none of us want to experience that hurt. None of us want to be the one left out because we all have a desire to be chosen.

But can we avoid this experience? Our world is a broken place full of broken people and the reality is that we will most likely experience some sort of rejection, but how we deal with this and the community we process it with makes a huge difference.

As I was thinking about the importance of having a Godly community to process things with, I remembered the grace of Jesus. He gave grace to plenty of people that were rejected by the world.

Jesus was the one who sat with the outcasts, who listened to them, who gave sight to those that others seemed blind to, who healed those that others wouldn’t touch. He was able to see their pain and hurt before anyone else did. And the beautiful thing is, He sees yours too. He understands the desire to belong and He understands rejection deeply.

Accepting Christ into our lives allows us to not only be a part of God’s family, it allows us to truly belong to Him. Some may hear this phrase and see it as a sort of possession, but that is a worldly way of thinking. The truth is that belonging to Christ means we are accepted into God’s family and have the privilege of sitting at his table.

Imagine sitting and feasting with the Almighty! Belonging to Christ allows us to finally experience the unfailing love we all desperately want and try to gain from the world around us. Belonging means to be protected, secure, and safe in the arms of a Father who knows you for who you really are, who sees you for who you truly are. In other words, it is a privilege, it is a joy, and it is a longing fulfilled to belong to Christ.

If you’re reading this, remember you were made to be a part of God’s family, a community of believers where you can be your honest self and grow into all that you were made to be. This place of belonging is where you can finally be embraced in the arms of a Father who truly loves you.

Let’s pray together:

Father God,

Thank you for making me unique and with a purpose. Thank you for writing my story before the beginning of time. Thank you for being a God that understands my past trauma and my desire to belong and be accepted. Lord, help me to let go of rejection and fear, and step into the fullness of belonging to a community that you have for me. Lord, may your will be done in my life. I love you.

In Jesus’ name.

#christ #thenarrowpath #faith #belonging #hope #gratitude #jesus