On belonging

Experts tell us that we are born with several main longings. One of these is a longing to be loved, and from this comes our security and sense of belonging. If we are honest – we all want to belong. And if we do not have that longing fulfilled early on in our lives, we will continue to search for it all the years God gives us. He did not design us to live solitary existences, but to have families and communities because we are relational beings.

There are times, however, when we may feel disappointed, disillusioned, estranged from, or abandoned by those closest to us - for a myriad of reasons. Who do we belong to, then? Those of us who have given our lives to Christ and been reconciled to our heavenly Father have such assurance that we belong to Him, are treasured and held securely by Him for eternity.

If I am honest, though, there have been times in my life when I didn’t feel like I was loved and that I belonged to God. I felt like there was an enormous chasm that separated us, and I couldn’t feel His love and presence at all. It was in moments like this, that I clung to the truth God has spoken in His Word through the ages, even if my circumstances seemed to indicate something different.

I spent much time searching the scriptures and determining that I would believe what He had spoken and promised, not what I was feeling. As I have explored the Old Testament over the years, I have become more and more aware of the beautiful love language with which God addresses to His people, constantly reaching out to them, offering forgiveness and reconciliation as they walked away from Him again and again. In Hosea 11, He speaks tenderly to Israel:

‘When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.’ v1

‘Yet it was I who taught Ephraim (northern Kingdom of Israel) to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, ...’ v4  

‘How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? ... My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender...’ v8

‘Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,’ declares the Lord. Jer 31:20

These verses offer such a stunning picture of God, the Father, loving, raising and leading His children, even when they stubbornly refused to walk with Him. But you may ask, ‘How is that relevant to us non-Jewish believers today?’. Here is the wonderful truth. The love with which God speaks to His people, Israel, is the same love that was extended toward all mankind when Jesus came to redeem us and pay the penalty for the sin that separated us from our Father God.

The New Testament assures us that we have been included in this glorious redemption, which was extended to the gentiles, as well as the Jews.

‘But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God’. John 1:12

And because we have a tendency to read these truths and know them in our heads and not experience them in our hearts, God gives us His Holy Spirit to live in us, remind us of all that Jesus said and did, empower us and enable us to know that we are His children, beyond a shadow of doubt.

‘But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (and daughters). And because you are sons (and daughters), God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”. So you are no longer a slave, but a son and if a son, then an heir through God.’ Gal 4:4-7

‘See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are ... Beloved, we are God’s children now ...’ 1 John 3:1-2

‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand...’ John 10:27

When I read these verses, I am filled with gratitude. But more than that, I am filled with reassurance that I am loved unconditionally. As we come to celebrate Easter and Christ’s atoning death and resurrection, won’t you join me in taking some time to revel in your position as a beloved son or daughter who belongs to the glorious God of the universe?