May 26, 2021

Weekly Reflection – Where Do You Belong?

Where do you belong? Those words appeared on my Facebook page earlier this week. They have haunted me ever since I first saw them. Where do I belong? So I ask you the same question, “Where do you belong”?

There are so many aspects to this. Do I belong in this community? Do I belong in this profession? Do I belong in this form of recreation? Are there parts of my life that habitually keep me stuck in ways of thinking or acting where I certainly do not belong? Do I recognize the pain this “stuckness” is causing? Or have I just become accustomed to it and falsely accept that it is “normal”?

Here is an example, I am stuck with being ten pounds (4.5 Kilos) heavier than I was last year. That is fifteen pounds heavier than my ideal weight. Do I have the motivation to change this?

Yes, to change would be painful. No more chips, eat only vegetables, cut my intake in half, and exercise seriously. Feel the pain! Do it until the change comes. If I do not act soon, the long-term pain will certainly be painful, if not deadly.

So, where are you stuck? Where do you belong?

On an even more critical level, we belong in the body of Christ. We belong with people who live as Jesus lived. We reside under the control of the Holy Spirit. We belong with God, both now and for eternity! How painful might it be for us to move closer toward those realities? What would we have to give up? What new habits might we need to form? What will be the pain of not changing, and what will be the joy of making the shift? Oh, and of course, in this case, God is prepared to take full responsibility for the life that has wholly yielded to Him.

I once read a book entitled “The Ordeal of Change.” That title indeed says a lot about what change will be like when they come. It is easy to stay falsely comfortable, mired in the mud of a rut-driven life. But if we accept the ordeal of change that will occur as we climb out of the mud and the rut, then in the end, what could be more delightful?

Would you take some time this week to consider where in your life you are stuck and what needs to happen to move from that position to one that will bring true joy over the long run? May you be blessed in the process.

Chaplain Allen
chaplain@nationsu.edu
chaplainscorner.org

Read the Chaplain’s reflection, The Center of Our Lives