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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