Do We Belong?

We are going to be talking about belonging and what it means to fit in. I want to talk about what it really means to fit in and belong. We know that in our hearts and through God's eyes that He accepted us and loved us from the very first day that He brought us into this world. I first want to start off with two quotes before we get into the verses of scripture we will read. The first quote I would like to share with all of you is this: That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings, are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong. The next quote I would like to share with you comes from someone named Suzy Toronto and the title says: Pretending to be Normal, and underneath that it reads: William Shakespeare wrote, ''This above all, to thine own self be true.'' Boy, did he nail it on the head! A lot of us go through phases Where we we think we have to be, act, and look Like everyone else to fit in. I tried it, and it didn't work. Now I realize that God doesn't want an orchestra Of identical instruments all playing the same tune, So I let go of the status quo And decided to just be me. Besides, Pretending to be A normal person Day-after-day is exhausting.

The scriptures we will be reading tonight are Deuteronomy 10:14, Colossians 3:14, Romans 12:5, 1 Peter 3:8, and Acts 1:14.

When we read the scriptures we go back to how when we first realized that we were created in God's Image, how we have talents and gifts to use for the Purpose that God has for us. We know and we trust that the Purpose and Plan for our lives is greater than what we know and even when we don't see the things that we should see, God is opening our hearts, our eyes, and our minds to know that we have to Trust God, and Trust God and let go. When we trust Him we can see that we belong and fit in, and where God shows us how we're His beloved. 

I would now like to share some song lyrics with all of you, because I feel the song lyrics I'm about to share, fit perfectly with what we've heard and what we read. The first song comes from a band called Land Of Color with a song they have called Running.  The line that I want to share from that says: Do I belong because I want to belong, so why I am running from the one I need the most?  The second song comes from Casting Crowns that has a line in their song featuring Matthew West called Nobody which says, Why You ever chose me Has always been a mystery All my life I've been told I belong At the end of the line With all the other not-quites With all the never-get-it-rights But it turns out they're the ones You were looking for All this time Moses had stage fright When David brought a rock to a sword fight You picked twelve outsiders nobody would have chosen And You changed the world Well the moral of the story is Everybody's got a purpose So when I hear that devil start talking to me saying "Who do you think you are?" I say I'm just a nobody Trying to tell everybody All about Somebody Who saved my soul Ever since You rescued me  You gave my heart a song to sing I'm living for the world to see Nobody but Jesus I'm living for the world to see Nobody but Jesus

The next song called Belovedness by Sarah Kroger featuring Corey Voss says, And He says your mine I smiled when I made you, I find you beautiful in every way and my love for you is fierce and unending, I'll come to find you whatever takes my beloved.

Finally the last song I would like to share with you is a song that I feel can help encourage us all.

The last song I would like to share with you is a song that I definitely take to heart when I hear it, and it's a song by Matthew West called Broken things that says, All the misfit heroes you chose tell me there's hope for sinners like me. When we take songs like this, and we hear the lines from each song, we realize that even though the lyrics are different, the message in each song is the same. You may wonder, well each artist has a different message on why they wrote the song, so how could the message for the lyrics be the same? What do they have in common? Well when we look at Broken Things and it talks about misfit heroes, then Nobody by Casting Crowns when it mentions 12 outsiders, along with the song by Land Of Color and Sarah Kroger, we see that what the songs have in common are this, we know that we're God's beloved children who were uniquely and wonderfully made by Him to know that when He made us, we are people who don't have to be perfect to know that all of us are misfit heroes, and the people who may not have wanted to choose us to do stuff with us in school, because they saw us as outsiders, well this is where in the song by Casting crowns reminds us that God chose 12 outsiders in the Bible that nobody would have chosen and He changed the world. Why? Well, because we all have a purpose to love one another, to be who God calls us to be and to remember that when we feel like we don't belong, or fit in, that's when we stop and Be still and know that God is letting us know right then and there that we do belong and we do fit in, because we're loved and we are His Children.

I would now like to ask these questions to all of you. Is there a moment in your life, whether it be growing up when you were in school or now that you felt that you didn't belong or fit in?

Is there a time in your life when you were growing up, or even now, that you felt like you didn't belong of fit in?

How would you say knowing that when you felt that way, God helped you overcome and see that you have always belonged as a Child Of God?

When you felt that way, were you able to overcome it?  Has God helped you see that you belong and that you are His child and have a rightful place in this world?

Has there been a moment when you saw someone that you didn't know, who felt alone and felt like they didn't have a friend to talk with? If so, how did you help that person and how did you help them know that they were never alone because they had a Place In This World?

Has there been a time when you saw someone who was having a hard time fitting in or was feeling alone?  Did you choose to help that person?  How should we handle those situations?

Finally, if you were one of the misfit heroes that we read about in the Bible like David, and all the others that God chose to be a light in this world, to do His Will, who would you say is the person you relate to most and why do you relate to them and their story?

Finally, if you were one of the misfit heroes that we read about in the Bible like David, and all the others that God chose to be a light in this world, to do His Will, who would you say is the person you relate to most and why?

I first want to say that as I was trying to figure out what I wanted to talk about, I called one of my aunts and told her how my last study went, and from there I expressed how I could share different things, along with talking about fitting in and how we belong and do we belong. We were talking about that for awhile, and it just seemed that was God's timing to know that He was revealing all of that right then. When I try to think of what I'll share, I often at times go to my Bible for inspiration and let God help me find my next topic. Last Wednesday night, God helped me by sharing what was on my heart to my aunt, but also was helping me in the process of knowing what to write and what the title for tonight should be. God works in mysterious ways, but He works in amazing ways to show us that anything is possible and we just have to keep believing that the plans He has for us, are greater than anything we can imagine. There are many songs that talk about what we've learned tonight, but what my hope is for all of you is that what you learned tonight, is what you'll take away because I hope that it gives you encouragement in your week ahead.