BELONGING

I will be their God.  Jeremiah 31:33 NIV

Do you know who you are?  Whom you belong to?  What you have currently and what your inheritance is?  Do you know your family – growing up one, current one and the extended one?

Do you feel seen and heard?  Known and sought after?

These can be some tough questions.  And they could require some careful, thought-out responses.  Or, they could be easy as our next breath.

Coming into this year – 2026 – I was in a tough spot.  Lots going on, lots to think about, a lot of hurt and some baggage that needed to be sorted through and thrown out – nothing could be repurposed, reused, or re-gifted.  All needed to be taken to the Cross and left there, for good.

So much easier said than done.

I closed 2025 with a heavy heart.  And I was milking it something fierce – and still am to some degree.

What’s not to be concerned about – the state of the union, the world, relationships, my feet recovery, stuff.  A lot of stuff.  I was feeling the weight of so much and that is not necessarily a bad thing.  Paul writes about caring for the churches and people he wrote letters to.  He talks about praying for these folks day in and day out. 

These things are a burden.  When you walk this life as a believers we are called to:

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 

Galatians 6:2  NIV

When you love, you run the risk of getting hurt, getting burned, getting betrayed.  You put your heart out there and you love deeply so you can be genuine and real, coming alongside when others are hurting and lifting their hurts onto your shoulders.

And some of those hurts are very heavy.

However, we are given a solution to this very real situation:

Cast all your anxiety on Him (Jesus) because He cares for you.  1 Peter 5:7  NIV

This verse hit me between the eyes this week because my shoulders were drooping, my face was downcast, my heart was in the pit of my stomach. 

God very gently reminded me about shifting all of it – every thing that causes anxiety, hurt, frustration, onto Him.

If you  notice, it says nothing about letting Jesus babysit our cares.  He is not a daycare, nor is He a babysitter.  He is holy, awesome and mighty in power.  When we give, He takes.  And He deals with it/them.  For good.

It’s a matter of our letting go, and letting Him.

As a family, we have had the habit of having a word for the year.  For many years, this has been the protocol.  Nothing that we purposed it this way – it just came to be.

I have had words like endure, abide, hope, trust, etc.  And my family has had similar words.

On January 1, 2026, I was chatting with God and telling Him I have nothing for this year and I was perfectly good with that.  I was so over it, ready to move on.  I was in survival mode and limping along.

As soon as I let that leave my mouth, the word

Came running into my mind.  Not that I laughed out loud, but it was definitely not what I was thinking.  So, I did what I normally do:  I asked God to prove this and show me what He meant.

It was not more than a few minutes later, when in reading our morning devotion as a family that we read:

He will call upon Me, and I will answer Him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.  Psalm 91:15  NIV

Three (count them), three promises in one verse.  Not only did God answer my emphatic (yes, bratty response to Him), but He chose to answer it three times.

Do you want to know the conclusion I came to last night? 

God is gentle with me.  He does not disregard me, punish me, put me in time out – and I deserve all these things.  He answers and He loves, and He shows me His promises.

Since that day and without fail (in all my study, and devotional reading), seemingly random places, God has shown me a promise every single day.  Not one has passed by where He did not show me in His Word – His promise.

If you notice, God’s promise is that I would not escape trouble, but that He would be with me, in the trouble.  And it is not just for me, but all of Christiandom.  God’s promises are true, they are real and He is real.

We live in a sin-filled world and bad stuff happens.  However, His promise is that we would not walk it alone.  Ever.

I knew that more than ever during my two long, long bouts of suffering.  Even when I wanted to believe I was forsaken by God, I could not shake the truth:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.  Psalm 23:4

So, what is the takeaway in all this?  What should my response be?  How can I grab hold of God, His promises and have my head lifted and shoulders lightened?

A couple of things: believe Him, trust Him, stay in His Word, walk daily with Him and encourage others with the encouragement I have been given.

Simple as that.

PRAYER

Father, You are so gracious, kind, and loving. You demonstrate this to me, to us, all day long. Thank You for being there with me, for giving me promises to hold onto and for giving me a place to belong - in Your heart.