Not a Clique; Not a Club; Not a Circus
See I have written your name on the palms of my hands… Isaiah 49:16
Remember what it was like to divide up for teams when you were a kid? First, the captains were chosen – you know, the popular kids who play EVERY game like they were born with sports paraphernalia attached to their hands? And then the torture began. Each captain took turns selecting a player for his or her team until everyone was chosen. Unless you got down to me, and a heated discussion broke out as to who HAD to take me until I just slowly slipped away to sit in the corner somewhere and hope nobody noticed I wasn’t participating. I’m 51 years old and just writing about this still hurts. Why? Because we all want to belong. Nobody likes to be rejected.
But rejected is exactly how I felt when I was 10 years old, and I was angry at God for it. The only thing I knew about Him then was that He had taken my baby sister to be with Him to some place called Heaven to play with His special toys. First, I decided this God – whoever He was – had to be mean and hateful if He could just take people you love away from you and never bring them back. Second, if this Heaven was such an awesome place, and God was so wonderful, then there must have been something very special that made Him choose my sister; consequently, there must have been something very wrong with me if He didn’t take me. Don’t get me wrong. My parents love me dearly. I have never doubted that, but in my childish mind, I felt just as rejected as if God were choosing teams, and I was the sister left standing alone.
But in the middle of all this rejection and anger and loneliness I heard something I had never heard before – God called MY name. For the first time in my life I heard how much He loves ME. Not just a general “God so loved the world”, but He knows ME by name. He sent His own Son Jesus to die a brutal death for ME. And I began to truly grasp in the depths of my soul that I was more than just the left over player slinking over in the corner hoping nobody noticed me. I matter to God. MY name is written on His hand forever! He wants to share every area of MY life; to walk with ME every day. I am not a reject. I am His child!
As God has been answering my prayer to see others through His eyes, my heart has been broken by the number of people around me that truly do not know that God loves them. Some of them have actually been told God doesn’t want to have anything to do with them. Some of them feel like they are the rejects after the teams have been chosen in the game of life. Some of them are confused and some just plain tired of trying to perform up to an ever-changing set of standards. It reminded me how thankful I am for the fifth grade teacher who cared enough for the shy, hurting little girl slinking in the corner to invite her to church.
The fact is we are all invited to be His children – to belong to the Family of God.
It’s not a clique you hope you are chosen for.
It’s not a club you hope you are good enough for.
It’s not a circus you hope you perform well enough to belong to.
It is simply a family – where God loves EACH person and knows EACH by name.
And it is not a secret!
But how sad is it that there are so many who do not know. Who have not heard. Here I am, Lord. Give me the words. Help me be your hands. Help me show them the way to You that they may know your unconditional love for THEM! That they may hear you call their name!
Robin Kelley
I am just an ordinary middle-aged woman striving to make a difference one word at a time. . . no matter what hat I am wearing at the time.
One Comment
Brown Paper and Strings
I love this Robin! I think it is a shame when we Christians act like it IS a clique, club, or circus, because unfortunately many people who call themselves Christians do. Maybe it is just that they are not far enough in their journey to be mature. I don’t know.
But I pray that we would all be moved by the love of Christ so much that we love the hurting just like they need, and allow Him to use our bodies to minister to these people.