Have you ever had a moment when you felt confident you belonged? Or a moment when you were certain that you didn’t? 

A few years ago, I attended a conference for Christian writers and speakers for the first time. I knew almost no one, and I felt so alone and awkward that I spent a couple of the break times hiding in my car! A year later, I attended the same conference again—and this time, I was meeting up with friends. I felt a strong sense of belonging as I swapped stories with other writers and spent time getting to know them better. At one point, I texted my husband and told him, “These are my people.”

God created us with a desire to belong. And while we have moments when that longing is fulfilled, there are other times when we feel lonely, less than, or left behind. Even in the midst of connecting at the conference, there were moments when I was still the awkward girl hovering on the outskirts of a conversation, waiting to be invited in. 

Our desire to belong will never be fully satisfied by our human relationships. It is meant to point us to the One who says we belong to Him. 

“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10)

God calls us His people. Not because of our impressive resume or sparkling personality, but only because of the perfect record of His Son. God, in His mercy, covers us with Christ’s righteousness and makes us His people. 

When you long to belong, find comfort in knowing you are the Lord’s. He has made you His people by His mercy. He gave His Son so that you could be His child. He brings you into His family and says, “You are Mine.” 

No matter what you face this week, because of God’s mercy, you are now His people. 

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A few years ago, I lost something of great value. My laptop crashed and was beyond repair. I lost several documents, most of which could be reconstructed. But I was devastated to learn I’d lost a year’s worth of photos and videos. They were irreplaceable, and they were gone. 

The local repair shop couldn’t salvage anything. Then we learned of a company that would be likely to get many of the photos off the damaged hard drive. But it was expensive. When I told my husband the cost, he said: “There’s no price we can put on those photos. Do it.” Thankfully, the data retrieval company returned almost all of my priceless memories. 

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.” (Philippians 3:8-9a)

The apostle Paul, author of these verses, gave up everything to follow Christ: his reputation, his standing in the Jewish community, his pedigree of law-keeping and service, his safety, and his freedom. Why would he make such a costly sacrifice? Because Paul knew no reputation, no position, no comfort, no riches would be a precious as His Savior. The worth of knowing Christ surpasses anything else this world can offer. 

Photos are precious to me, and I grieved when I thought I’d lost them. However, knowing Christ is more valuable than my most priceless possession. More valuable than my home, my health, my freedom, or even my family. The treasure of knowing Christ is freely given and cannot be taken away. When we suffer loss or hardship, we can cling to the treasure that can’t be taken from us—the surpassing worth of knowing our Lord and Savior. 

No matter what you face this week, remember nothing compares to the worth of knowing Jesus Christ. 

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My middle child loves archery. As he’s spent hours in the backyard and started to compete, I’ve been learning a lot about the sport. 

I’ve learned the point values for the different rings on the target, why the tops of his tennis shoes keep wearing out (“bows on toes!”), and the surprising number of factors that need to be just right to get the arrow to the bullseye. When my son lines up his bow, pulls his arm back, and sends the arrow toward the target, he’s counting on the target staying in place. If he took his bow and arrow out hunting, he would find that shooting at a moving target is a completely different skill! 

In Psalm 71, we see that God is more like the target in my backyard than the deer running in the forest. He’s an unchanging Rock. We don’t have to wonder if He will be with us in times of trial. We don’t have to question if He will be faithful to us this week. We don’t have to cross our fingers and hope we haven’t sinned beyond His willingness to forgive us. His character never changes, so He is a safe refuge and a sure anchor for our faith. 

“Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and fortress” (Psalm 71:3)

Because God is our rock of refuge, we can continually run to Him and know that He will be the same refuge we’ve known in the past. Because God has saved us through the finished work of Christ, we don’t have to wonder if He will forgive us again this time. Because God is as solid as a fortress, we can trust Him to keep His unchanging promises despite our changing circumstances. 

No matter what you face this week, God is your rock of refuge.

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