2 Samuel 9:1–8

2 Samuel 4:4–6

How to Belong Even If You’re Questioning Your Place

1 — The Baggage Your Name Carries Does Not Mean You Don’t Belong His father and grandfather were the failed kings of Israel. His name and image were forever tarnished before he ever stepped into independent personhood. God can redeem what you lost and bring you into being found by only His goodness and His grace. It’s so much easier to hold onto why you don’t think you have a place than to trust that God will bring you into a place that only His power could. Belonging is rooted in what you believe about yourself before you are ever invited to sit at the King’s table.

2 — Your Deformities and Deficiencies Do Not Mean You Don’t Belong The areas in which people have hurt you that weren’t your fault can easily become the reason we never re-engage with life in God and with others—because we think it’s easier to be alone and protected than in a group and exposed. No one gets to dictate whether you belong or not besides you. There is always a seat open at the King’s table; you have to decide if you’re okay with it having others sitting around it. Stay in the pack. Run towards the roar.

3 — You Don’t Have to Believe What Your Circumstances Have Said Over Your Life Belonging is all about having faith that He works all things for your good. The thing he wasn’t proud of (his family) was the very thing that gained him access. His name meant “from the mouth of shame.” He described himself as a “dead dog,” yet in one single day he found himself at the King’s table—with his fortune, title, and status restored. Don’t let the outside defeat the inside, because God can change the outside faster than He can change your inside.