Word of Encouragement Devotional: Why Don't I Fit In?

Do you sometimes feel there is not a certain group that you fit in to? Groups can make you very aware of how different that you are. Perhaps you have always felt a little different from the rest, and have wondered why you just can’t conform and fit in.

I had my one and only child when I was sixteen, so I am a woman in her early forties with a grown son; an empty nester. I don’t know any women my age who are already empty nesters, the families on my street are in their late thirties and early forties with young children. Even in my church I have a few women that I know who have undergone some of the same struggles as I have with my adult child, but these women are several years older than I am. I don’t fit into a one particular race, and people often wonder or even ask me what my ethnicity is. I am married, so you can say I can fit into the married couple group, but I still have a difficult time with fitting into couples our age because their children are so much younger than ours.

Can you relate to my above experiences? Perhaps your experiences are a little different than mine, but you can relate to wanting to fit in somewhere fully.

A sense of belonging and acceptance is imperative to everyone’s basic emotional needs. You can still attend church and feel that you don’t belong. Yes, we are the Body of Christ and should feel accepted among fellow believers, but that does not always happen. Our true belonging and acceptance comes from Jesus. Maybe no one has ever told you that you may not fit into a particular group because God designed it that way! I did not like the idea of not being able to say I don’t belong fully to one group, but God has showed me that my ability to blend in most settings and communities is a gift! That’s right a gift, when you can be fluid and have the ability to go into communities, ethnicities and into people’s lives that are broken because you understand what it is like to be differnt-that’s a gift! Not everyone can do this!

Embrace your uniqueness, because God designed you that way. Stop trying to fit in, and be honored that God has chosen you to be His hands and feet among the lest of these, among varying ethnicities, and among the broken and down-trodden.