Finding Your Place Now
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Jesus said, “I am going there to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2
We have three fawns that are currently living during the day in our backyard. The momma drops them off in the morning and comes back later in the day to pick them up. It feels like we are babysitting deer. The three have found their place in our yard – close to the house next to our office window. They lay in the mulch and leaves. Their indentations are in the mulch. It is so sweet that they have found a comfortable place in our wooded yard.
In my hometown over the past two weeks, we have participated in two ice cream socials and a luncheon. After getting our food, it is finding a place to sit. I have sat with family and friends and have had wonderful conversations. It is choosing a place. Sometimes a person will say, “I saved it just for you.” Now that makes you feel wanted and special.
Finding a parking place sometimes is a challenge especially during a busy time or busy area. Someone pulled out of one recently and I found a place to park that was convenient. Other times, you find a place a distance away and choose the attitude of enjoying the extra walk.
We find our place in our families too. Our place is like our role or responsibility in the family. The place in the family is sometimes based on birth order, personality, your gifts and talents, or just your ability to get along with others. Your place in the family can also be your own choice. It depends on how involved you choose to be, how willing you are to be available to help and support, and how much other listen to you and trust your word and guidance.
It is finding your place in your social groups and friend groups. You may be the organizer and have the role of getting everyone together and making the plans. You may follow the crowd. You may desire to have a social group and have not found your place. My cousin, who moved back to her hometown a couple years ago, is searching for her place in relationships. It is difficult to break into already established groups and relationships.
We also have to find our place in the Church. It is choosing where you want to serve and give of your gifts and talents in the fellowship of believers. It is finding your place in your faith. There can be a feeling of not fitting in or even not being welcome. It may even feel like there is judgment or a lack of acceptance. It is difficult finding our place in this world and in relationships with others. It is trying to fit in without compromising who we are or allowing others to be in control.
In each season of life, we need to find our place – our role and who we are now that life has changed. Finding your place when you feel empty or lost or unsure is difficult without someone to be your guide. That is why Jesus tells us in the Gospel of John that he prepares a place for us. Not just a place in Heaven where we will be with Him forever, but also a place with Him now. Jesus gives us direction in finding a place – “I am the way and the truth, and the life.”
The ultimate finding our place is with God. God wants us to find Him and to be with Him. Sometimes, we feel we have to find our way on our own and earn a place with God. God calls us His children and provides the perfect way to Him through Jesus and the cross. Jesus died for our sins. We are forgiven and given the gift of salvation and eternal life.
But so often, we struggle with the simplicity of grace. It is free, and it is a gift. God seems distant and Heaven seems unattainable. We complicate the relationship and think we have to understand and figure it all out. That is what faith really is – a trust that you don’t have to know it all to believe it all. It is finding your place as a child who is loved by a Heavenly Father who is good and faithful.
You fit in with God because God chose you. God accepts you. God has a place just for you. When you feel like you don’t fit in or have a place in your family or among those around you, remember God always has a place for you.
