Blog based on message by Lydia Kicker
This blog is based upon a message preached at Wave Sisters on September 28th , 2016. Wave Sisters is the women’s ministry of Wave Church and exists to inspire women and girls of every age and culture to realize their value and potential
Ephesians 2:19b (MSG)
“You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here …”
We all want to belong, be a part of something significant, because where we belong and feeling like we belong brings value and validity to our own lives. It gives purpose and meaning and connectivity. No one likes to feel like an outsider. No one wants to be on the outside looking in. But sometimes for so many of us, we find ourselves in that exact situation.
What keeps up from knowing that sense of belonging? It’s us. It’s our own self. Our own insecurities that tell us, I don’t belong, that I will never belong, that I am too different, that no one is like me or no one “gets” me. So for some, it’s just easier to “belong” to the outsiders – because any sense of belonging will do sometimes. But you have to actually believe that you belong in order to belong. It doesn’t matter how friendly or inclusive any organization or group can be, if you tell yourself that you don’t belong, that you don’t quite fit in, you will never fully belong.
Proverbs 23:7a NKJV
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
The only one that can tell you that you don’t belong is you. Well, and of course, the enemy. He tells us we don’t belong, but he is the father of lies so we shouldn’t believe him anyways. But ourselves, yes we believe what we tell ourselves. Remember you have to actually believe that you belong in order to belong.
You belong here means that you fit. You are part of this wonderful puzzle called Sisters (or your church or your family). There is a fit for every piece but you also have to believe that you fit; that you are a piece to this puzzle. Now it may require a bit of turning and finagling but every one of us has our own fit. But if we give up too soon, we will never see how the whole puzzle can truly fit together if you are missing. See, you belonging is not just about you, it’s about others that need to belong too because you belong. God intended for us to be connected. We need each other. Isolation is the enemy’s plan; isolation is one of the devil’s most effective schemes.
We belong in community
No matter who you are, how long you have been saved or alive on this planet, we all have the natural tendency to drift. And we don’t drift upward – we naturally do the opposite and drift downward. It is just part of our human nature. We drift naturally from everything that is holy and wholesome. We rarely drift to the better. We don’t drift to healthy relationships. No we generally drift toward the unhealthy relationships. The best defense against the drift is not me. The best defense against that is we not me. It is the us, not the you. We is the best defense against the deceitfulness of sin in you.
The drift begins within, so let someone in
You not only belong in Sisters (or your church or your family), but you also belong to someone. And that someone is Jesus. You belong to Christ. We have always belonged to God. He is our Creator and our Father. When that relationship was severed 2 thousand years ago because of sin, it took the sacrifice of Jesus to bring us back into that belonging again. We don’t belong anywhere else but in relationship with Jesus himself. There is no satisfaction in this life outside of knowing the truest sense of belonging and that is within the Kingdom of God. Live today and each day forward knowing YOU BELONG!
PRAYER
Jesus, I thank you that I am Yours! I look to You for my affirmation & sense of belonging. Please help me to be all that you’ve called me to be & not let comparison, or perceptions I may have keep me from living a life fully committed to You. I love you too Jesus AMEN.