I've always thought that I didn't fully fit in with the Christians in my church. I grew up outside of my church and had never really heard the true gospel. All the teenagers had grown up in Christian homes and they had grown up together. I, on the other hand, had never hung out with them. This summer I'm working at Cape Breton Bible Camp. One night all the staff members were sharing their testimonies. And I realized that though I may not have grown up like a lot if Christians that I know, we are all different, we are all broken. None of our stories, scars or hearts are the same. Each of us grew up in different homes with different experiences. But each and every one of us were brought together and united by one God. God chose us, picked us, pursued us and called us to Him. He made us a family. Brothers and sisters together under one Father. And it doesn't matter how different we are or how broken we are or where we come from. What matters is that we're all the children of God. We suffer, we love and we laugh together. We were chosen by God and put here for a reason. God always does stuff with with a purpose. And we, in our human minds, will never be able to understand why God does what He does. But understanding isn't the point. Trusting is. Trusting that God's plan is the right one. That all things are going to work for the good of those who love Jesus. And if we really trust in that and believe it, then it doesn't matter who we are or where we come from. What matters is that we belong to Jesus. That we're Christians.
God, you see, will choose unlikely people to accomplish things for His glory. Like a stuttering Moses or a scared Jonah. They didn't have good backgrounds or grow up with godly people. But that's not what mattered. God's plan is what mattered. And God is faithful- always. Like Aaron helped Moses, so God will send us help. He won't leave us. Once we belong to Him, nothing, and I mean nothing can snatch us out of His hand.
So, yes, we are a family. Though we stumble and fall, nothing will ever be able to separate us from each other and God. Not our fear, not our speech and certainly not our backgrounds.
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
-Ephesians 4:4-6
God, you see, will choose unlikely people to accomplish things for His glory. Like a stuttering Moses or a scared Jonah. They didn't have good backgrounds or grow up with godly people. But that's not what mattered. God's plan is what mattered. And God is faithful- always. Like Aaron helped Moses, so God will send us help. He won't leave us. Once we belong to Him, nothing, and I mean nothing can snatch us out of His hand.
So, yes, we are a family. Though we stumble and fall, nothing will ever be able to separate us from each other and God. Not our fear, not our speech and certainly not our backgrounds.
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
-Ephesians 4:4-6