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Have you ever felt like you just don’t belong—like an outsider, overlooked, dismissed or maybe even abandoned?
The other day I was at church. After the service I saw a friend of mine I had not seen in several weeks. We caught each other’s gaze and started up a conversation when within seconds someone else came by and my friend turned to them, mid-sentence mind you, and started to chat them up. I thought for sure it would be a brief hello and then she would circle back to me, but minutes passed by as I stood there and it was clear that her conversation would not be ending anytime soon.
First, I will admit that one of my pet peeves is when people do not pay attention to the person in front of them. It bugs me when people are easily distracted and clearly not present. But the situation this particular morning went deeper for me because instead of chalking up the encounter as no big deal and moving on, my mind started to wander and ruminate on thoughts of unworthiness. I know that may sound weird or overly sensitive. And I do not consider myself to be an overly sensitive person.
One of the old wounds and lies that the enemy tries to dig up and poke at is one I grew up believing that had stayed with me for a very long time. “You aren’t really likable. You will never be part of the popular crowd. Nobody really wants you or desires to be around you.” While Jesus has done a lot of healing for me in that area, if I am not diligent, the devil will take old thoughts and lies and serve them right up on a silver platter trying to get me to feast on them. And that is what was happening that morning at church. Thank the good Lord, literally, that I was able to discern the devil’s deception in those moments, reject the lie and turn my mind to truth. I am included in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 1:11). You are included!
1 Peter 5:8-9 beckons us; “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
Be alert. Stand firm. Don’t buy into falsehoods but anchor yourself firmly in your faith, in what is true.
Studies show that addressing our dysfunctional thinking, or in other words, rejecting the lies of the enemy and replacing them with truth, is the single most effective intervention to overcoming that dreadful feeling of not belonging.
So, whose voice are you listening to? (The enemy wants to destroy your peace and he will go to great lengths to find the weak spot of your wounds and use them to manipulate your thoughts and feelings.)
The only one who deserves any airtime in your head in Jesus so turn your thoughts over to him.