It is easy to feel like we don’t belong, to feel like others are somehow “better” or “more equipped” than us for whatever it is we feel that we are inadequate for. We may feel threatened by others in our workplace whom we perceive to be more gifted, more creative, or more result-producing than we feel that we are. Have you ever asked others, yourself, or even God, if you really “belong” in said place (or even, with said people)?
I know this is something I often struggle with. In my most recent call to taking a pastoral role in church leadership, I have wrestled with this same question. Does a young, largely inexperienced, female that has been pursuing a career in chaplaincy really belong in a pastoral leadership positon? Can she really compare to or hold ground against her older, wiser counterparts, especially that of males whom people are far less likely to disagree with their personal call to and fulfillment of a position in ministry?
I ask myself, and I ask God, if I really belong. I have asked him, “why me?” and “is there not someone else who is more qualified?” What I am realizing, though, even if the answer is “yes” to the latter of those questions, is that it is irrelevant. What IS relevant is that, for reasons I may or may not be able to understand in my own finite human mind, God did call me. He did open the door for and invite me to a place where I am in a role of pastoral authority within a church setting, no matter how much it may bring up feelings of inadequacy or insecurity within my heart. Perhaps those feelings are the very thing God can use to remind me of a fundamental truth I have learned throughout this process:
I don’t belong because of anything I did. I belong because of who I am in Christ, because of the person he has called me to be, and because of what he has called me to do.
It is very likely that my own senses of inadequacy, insecurity, and fear of not belonging are what drive me that much more to both remind myself of and to pursue a deeper understanding of who I am in Christ. In understanding my identity in Christ, the focal point of my identify is NOT my age, gender, experience (or lack thereof), but it is simply that I am a child of God. It is that God created me to love, worship, and be in relationship with him. We belong to Christ not because of what we do or because of anything we can earn or obtain, we belong to Christ because of WHO we are in him.
So for any of you wrestling with belonging in your own experiences and circumstances, I pray this is a fresh and precious reminder to you that you don’t have to “earn” your belonging, nor do you have to look like or share the experience of another in your corner to belong in the same space. You do not belong because you have the most experience, accolades, or even the most giftedness; you belong because you are in Christ, and because he has called you to be where you are, surrounded by the people you are with, for such a time as this.
You belong because Christ is going to use YOU in such a way that is going to bring glory and honor to his name in whatever space, both personally and professionally, that you are currently in. Even if you do not understand right now, know that God has uniquely prepared you to be in the exact place that you are in. May you be reminded each and every day, particularly and especially during those times you are feeling inadequate, that you belong to Christ, and that the same one who has called you is the one who will equip you, and the one who will allow you to continue to grow, engage, and flourish exactly where you are.
YOU are the person God chose to be that child’s mother. Help that child to know they belong to Jesus.
YOU are the person God chose for that corporate business position. Do so with integrity.
YOU are the person God chose to be that person’s spouse. Remind your partner that you love them.
You are where you are because God has led you there. God loves you, he is guiding you, and even in the moments where you may feel like an outsider or like you don’t measure up, remember, you belong to him.
Esther 4:14b: “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdo for such a time as this?” (NKJV)
Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”, (NIV).
2 Corinthians 12:9: “Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me”, (NLT).
