We all want to belong somewhere. There are so many quotes about home-- "home is where the heart is," "there is no place like home"-- so much talk about finding a place where we "belong" and feel like we have a purpose. Kids and teenagers submit to peer pressure because they want to "fit in." Adults chase after temporary fads and current fashions for what is "in", so that they aren't considered "out."
We always have our eyes on where we want to be, where our goal is, what we need to become, so that we can find that place where, somehow, magically, we will have it all together. We'll belong. We'll have meaning, contentment, and feel welcomed. We're always looking for something else, some other thing we need or goal we have to obtain. We chase and chase and focus on the future, forgetting the present. Where we are now, what we have now.
Christians have a tendency to do all this as well, but we sometimes also have a habit of putting a special label to it. We want to discover "God's will," we want to discover and follow God's plan for our lives. We're not there just yet, but we want to be. We wait, we pray, we hope that someday we will feel that contentment that we aren't feeling now.
But what if we are exactly where we belong? Sure, heaven is our home, but God is what makes heaven, and God is with us, always. And for now, if we are living, breathing, He wants us here, our place is here. We belong here, in this moment. Our purpose is to live now for Him. Not to wait until some "special plan" unfolds, until we reach that particular goal or obtain that certain thing. Contentment is available now, in Him. That meaning we have been wanting in our lives, that sense of belonging, is available now. Why are we seeking so hard in the life for something else, something "bigger", "better"? If we are truly following Him, trusting Him, He is leading us down the path He wants us to be on.
We're all too busy worrying about tomorrow, and who knows if tomorrow ever comes? Who knows if those dreams we have, those "big things" we think we are supposed to do for God, will ever happen? Maybe He has a different plan. Maybe it isn't the time for that "big thing" to happen yet. But where does God say He only wants "big things"? That those who serve Him will only be doing big, flashy things? Isn't it in the small moments, the seemingly little decisions, that we glorify Him? Isn't it in those moments that we choose to have faith and follow Him, to allow Him to lead us to that "big" moment? We aren't guaranteed tomorrow. But we have right now. We have a purpose now: to trust and follow and love Him. We have "belonging", a sense of home now: to have His presence and love ever with us. Why are we waiting, sitting in discontent, instead of living...right now?
