It’s certainly not uncommon for any of us to feel like we don’t belong. Whether we think we don’t fit in with our families, our schools, our neighborhoods, our country, or even our world, those feelings can be overwhelming. If we don’t know where we belong, it’s hard to even ask the other question just beneath it: what’s the point? What’s the point of living where I don’t belong? What’s the point of living, when living is so hard and painful?And it’s a good question. Life without meaning, really is no life at all. God never intended us to live without meaning, without value, or without purpose. He tells us that He made us in His image, and though we’ve done a lot to distort and make that image ugly, He still thinks we’re worth saving. In fact, His love for us is so deep, that He took on this flesh of ours, and paid the price of our evil and rebellion, so that we might have meaning again. So that we might belong again, not just as another goofed up soul waiting to die, but as a beloved child of the living God called to live in Him.
There is one place that we all fit in—and that’s Jesus Christ. He’s the One who suffered everything we suffer, and far more, so that our suffering would find rest in Him. He’s the One who died in our place, so that our death will find meaning in Him. He’s the One who lives forever, so that our life would be found forever in Him. Jesus becomes for us our life, our hope, and our meaning, saving us from all the evil and awfulness of a broken and fallen world… and the evil and awfulness of our own, fallen self. In Jesus, the humble and repentant heart, finds grace and mercy and forgiveness—all things that He has won for us through His Cross, and which He gives to us freely by faith. In that faith we live, not only today, but every day, for all eternity. It is Jesus who said, that anyone who calls upon Him, and trusts in Him, He will by no means cast out. He is the lover of your soul, and He showed you that love through suffering and dying for you, so that you might live forever in Him.
Nobody really fits in in this world. But for the one who Jesus fits into Himself, we know why. Our world is broken, and needs a Savior. We, who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, have something to share with this broken world. We can tell them where they fit in, and who has paid the price for them. We Christians are called to live between Heaven and earth, as citizens of Heaven, and yet as pilgrims in this world. Christ being our life and salvation, we can walk through the darkness without fear, knowing that what He has given to us, we can freely give to all who will believe.
Wanna know how you can fit in with Jesus, and how He has come to save you? Give me a call, or shoot me a note, any time.
Your servant in Christ, our Life and Hope,
Brad+