Belonging

How many times do you think: I don’t belong, I’m not good enough? I know as an adult that happens to me. I may feel rejected, unsure, lacking courage, misunderstood. In those times I may try and prove myself, or be someone I am not.

This week we began our journey through movies, looking at what God says to us through popular film. “Toy Story” was our focus. Buzz Light Year fails at being a Space Ranger. He spirals into a state of depression when he realises that he is nothing (well, that is his perception!) Buzz says: “I’m just a toy, a stupid, little, insignificant toy.” And Woody says, “Being a toy is a lot better than being a space ranger… Look, over in that house is a kid who thinks you’re the greatest, and it’s not because you’re a Space Ranger, pal. It’s because you’re a toy. You are his toy!” And then Buzz looks at the bottom of his boot, where his owner, Andy, wrote his name on it.

Buzz realizes that his value, his worth, his identity doesn’t come from who he is; it comes from whose he is. His value comes from the one to whom he belongs. We read in Psalm 139:13-18:

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! 
And when I wake up, you are still with me!

God loves you, he knows you intimately. Next time you start to doubt your worth, remember you are His treasure, your story is His delight.

Karen Schoff