I admit it. I've been resisting God's family. I haven't been able to write in a while because I've been grappling with all things family and what mine looks like and where my place is.
My own nuclear family has been wrought with struggle, and that has caused me to question God's family too. Was I really part of God's family? What real family did I have? Who really loved me and was proud to call me their own? The answer: Christ!
These were some of the questions I had been wondering about. And God finally gave me some answers. I'm a brooder, a natural analytic. So, I think through and think about things before I feel like I have got it figured out. And I wait for God to get me there...
My brother and I had a falling out about a year ago. We weren't on friendly terms. My mother has Alzheimer's disease and is worsening by the day, and my father is about five years into Parkinson's disease. So what I knew of as my family had broken apart, and I was left feeling very alone.
My husband and I have had some struggles with parenting and acceptance of each other in the two short years we've been married. God gifted me with a new family here on earth to replace the older, deteriorating one. He gave me two stepchildren, a wonderful husband, loving in-laws, and a large extended family to spend holidays and celebrations with.
So what could be the problem, you might ask? I wasn't receiving God's gifts. I was used to the old family life I had, and I wanted to keep it that way. I wasn't opening my eyes to experience the new gifts (people) He had put into my life.
And I also wasn't receiving His gifts in the church either. I wasn't fully accepting the church family I had been given. I was reluctant to get to know people. And some dear friends I had made at church had left for various reasons. Some found other churches to attend and some of the friends I had made relocated with the military.
I really felt deserted and was even struggling with my identity. So, I looked up and asked God to help me find my family. Because He is always faithful...He did.
Here are a few verses that have helped me understand how I am a loved and an accepted part of God's family:
1. In Genesis 2:24 a man and a wife become "one flesh" after they are united in marriage. Because I am married, my husband and I are now part of the same body. Whatever I do affects him and vice versa. He is my new family on earth.
2. Romans 8:15-17 talks about becoming new in Christ and life after we are saved. "...the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to son ship." We have been given new life through Christ as daughters and sons.
3. In Romans 11:11-24 We are part of a new olive tree. Once we were "wild," but now we are "holy," as part of God's family and have been "grafted branches." If the "root" is holy (as in Christ), so are the branches (us).
4. It is important to attend a bible-based church as part of God's family. Matthew 18:20 shows us that God's power works through gatherings of His people. We need one another for the good times and the bad times too. "For when two or three gather in my name, there I am with them."
5. We are to join together with other believers for fellowship, for eating together, and for learning and praying to Christ. Acts 2:42 says, " They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
So, if YOU are questioning where you belong. Look up like I did and ask God to take you into His family. He will love and care for you like no other and give you blessings like He gave to me.
Be Blessed,
AllisonD
