Friend to Friend
I passed her as I exited the room. She retracted a little as I walked by, then darted into the room I had just left.

Armed with a can of disinfectant, she sprayed the room I had occupied minutes before. Long before the days when we knew of a term called COVID-19, I had come to work sick, and there was no hiding it.

My face told the story. Sunken eyes, a pale complexion, and probably a red-tinted nose … and if that weren’t enough, I carried a box of tissues with me everywhere I went.

No one wanted to approach me. Whether they had their own health in mind or something else, my sniffles and cough were enough to send my coworkers running in the opposite direction.

I worked long hours at a television station. Fresh out of college, with no family or other responsibilities, my focus was on my work, and I had been taught by my dad to work hard.

So on the day I woke up not feeling well, I remembered a day when my dad hadn’t felt well. As I recall, he sat in his office at the television station he worked at throughout my childhood.

He shivered with chills caused by a high fever and burrowed underneath a blanket. All the while, he worked to prepare for the evening news. Only a few hours later, he sat behind a desk on live television with a smile that never even hinted at his sick state.

And so with this in mind, I went to work. It never crossed my mind that no one would want me there.

Today’s Truth details something very different than my state that day: “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:16 NLT).

This paints the picture of a vibrant, healthy, thriving group of people, full of life and full of love. Sometimes, though, I think we feel more like I did that day at the office. Our circumstances are better described as “barely getting by,” and the people around us seem to keep their distance.

We hide our brokenness, and we distance ourselves from others, all the while consoling ourselves that this is how others want it too. We’re convinced that no one wants to be around us in our brokenness, so we separate ourselves at all costs until we’re fixed.

Sometimes, our brokenness can even become a part of our identity. We can identify ourselves based on past or present experiences and the scars they left behind.

The problem is, we can’t fix ourselves. But the good news is, we don’t have to. When it feels like everyone runs away from your brokenness, Jesus doesn’t grab a can of disinfectant spray and keep His distance—He moves toward you.

The belonging that comes from letting God into the broken places in our lives requires us to shift our identity from our scars to our Savior.

When we wrap our identity in our scars, we live broken lives, robbed of the blessings of belonging in the body of Christ. Jesus knew what it meant to be broken. Because of His scars, we don’t have to be defined by ours. Jesus came to fix it all!

What is one way you can shift your identity from your scars to your Savior?

 

Let’s Pray

Dear God, Thank You for coming to fix it all! Heal my broken places! Let Your truth shift my identity from my scars to my Savior that I may walk in the freedom Jesus’ provided for me through His death on the cross.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

Now It’s Your Turn 

The first step to belonging is to bring your brokenness to Jesus. Instead of tirelessly trying to fix things yourself, taste and see that He is good. Let Him heal you and bind your wounds. Let Jesus put the broken pieces of your heart back together.

Write a prayer surrendering any places you’ve been trying so hard to fix on your own.

 

More from the Girlfriends

In her new Bible study, She Belongs: Finding Your Place in the Body of Christ, Katy invites you to discover the peace, security, and purpose Jesus promises when we find our place in the body of Christ. Click here to pre-order your copy today!

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