Feeling like you belong is a great feeling. You’re part of the group. You’re on the “in”. People relate to you and accept your differences. If you think about it, you probably have some sort of understanding about what you would need to do or say in order to navigate life within a particular group.

Humans are social beings. At our core, we feel a need to belong to the world. To some degree or another, we all make adjustments to fit in. We are constantly striving to grow and improve, to fill our needs and satisfy our desires- just as one goal is accomplished, a new one presents itself. We can’t seem to sustain contentment with one thing and we always seem to fall short in becoming perfect.

Jesus is 100% human and 100% divine. He understands those pressures of being a human in the world and feels the reality that nothing on earth can satisfy all desires. Because we know of Jesus’ divine nature, it makes sense to us that Jesus did not feel a sense of belonging to the world. He belongs in his glorious dwelling place with the Father in Heaven.

Now let’s look at that line that Jesus said not once but twice in the same prayer:
“They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.”

If we believe Jesus is Lord and is in Heaven- where he belongs- and therefore doesn’t belong to the world at all, that means that we don’t belong to the world at all either. God created us, so we belong to God. Have you ever heard that you have a “God-shaped hole” in your heart? There is a longing in each of our hearts for God, but in some form of desperation or another, we humans continuously try to fill that hole with something on earth, which of course fails to sustain that longing.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t ask God to take us out of the world. Instead, Jesus sends us on the mission that he himself was sent to the world for. We’re not on earth just to hang out and do whatever… we have a job to do. That may sound daunting, being in a world we don’t even belong to with an extremely important mission to fulfill, but we can share in this with each other. We belong together.

Don’t get too comfortable here, and especially don’t go looking for comfort in the world. Remember where and to whom we truly belong.

Where are you trying to fit in? What adjustments have you made to try to fit in better?

Do you feel a yearning in your heart for the Lord? How do you respond?

​How has this world left you unsatisfied?

"I belong to the Lord."

​"I long for you, Lord."

​"I am made for heaven."

Do not worry about trying to fit in today. If you find yourself worrying today, say a short prayer, such as "Jesus, I trust in you."